


Caged

by historicallyredacted (lockandkey)



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Prison, Attempted Sexual Assault, F/M, Future OT3, Implied/Referenced Cheating, M/M, More Characters To Show Up, Multi, Universe Alteration, Violence, they're kind of assholes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-10
Updated: 2016-07-01
Packaged: 2018-03-11 12:55:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 72,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3327626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lockandkey/pseuds/historicallyredacted
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Frank Zhang has a heart to heart with his prison cellmate, Leo Valdez. They both find themselves at the heart of a conspiracy, that could cost them both dearly. Working together may be needed, but it'll be difficult when they can't trust themselves let alone one another, or anyone else.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, I just kind of wanted to write a short drabble here, but I'm finding I probably need to explain the world setting.
> 
>  
> 
> Long concept shortish, Godly Parents do very much exist except none of the main kids know. They have powers they can't explain, see things they can't explain, and aren't certain what to do about it.  
> In this, Frank has at least met Hazel. They both understand they're different, and have ..some sort of magic, and bond over it. But, they get into troubled, and to save themselves Frank ends up destroying a good deal of a building (or two)...this ends with his arrest and getting shipped off to jail.  
> In this particular prison, are more demigods, but they don't know each other and don't know they're even demigods.  
> Leo, is Frank's cellmate. He was arrested for circumstances you can probably easily guess. 
> 
>  
> 
> \--

  
  
  “She's cute. She your girlfriend?”  
  
Frank opened his eyes, taking a moment to focus on the photograph waving in front of his face. Valdez must have snatched it off the side table while he wasn't looking.  
It was a stark contrast to the room around him, Hazel's smiling face on a spring afternoon. The picture had been taken last year, before everything went so _so_ badly.  
Back when he wasn't in Prison.  
  
His cellmate didn't seem to notice Frank's fluctuating emotions, taking the photo back and whistling at it appreciatively.  
  
 “She's just my type,” he continued, looking up slowly to hold Frank's gaze. A slow smirk curled over mischievous lips.  
  
'Cocky shit', Frank thought. His cellmate, Leo Valdez, knew just how to push his buttons. At first, Frank was pretty sure it was unintentional, but as the days stretched into months, it seemed insidious.  
  
 “You have a type?” Frank asked, voice hoarse from lack of use, feigning surprise.  
  
 “My type is hot,” Valdez shot back.  
  
 “I'm all about hot,” he added after a moment, but it didn't seem as earnest as his normal quips.  
  
  Valdez had been brought in on charges of arson. Repeated arson. It took them awhile to catch the little bugger, or so Frank had heard. Reportedly, Valdez denied all guilt, and being a shrimp with big brown eyes helped with the innocent plea. What didn't help was him being found a multiple scenes of burning building, and there was a rumor he had caused his own mothers death. The guy was cute, but shiftier than a sinner in church.  
  
His outlook on one Leo Valdez was not helped by the fact Frank had his own issues regarding fire.  
  
 Normally, Valdez would have been stuck with other Latino persons in prison, and Frank with any other Asian. Prisons didn't tend to admit it, but they expected people to join gangs during their lock up, so they would purposely separate the races. But, Valdez had spent about a week with members of a Mexican gang before being moved to Frank's cell. Frank had newly arrived, and didn't have any other cellmate, and besides some...massive (accidental) destruction of public property, didn't seem very threatening. So, they shoved off the small guy to the non-threatening giant.  
  
Frank wasn't sure what Valdez had done to deserve to get pushed off onto him, he knew Valdez had injured two people but who knew who provoked who. And, maybe the question Frank should be asking what _he_ had done to deserve Valdez.  
But, whatever Valdez had done had him on the bad list of the Mexican gang (and Valdez didn't seem fond of _them_ either), and while Frank wasn't purposely protective over Valdez..he couldn't really keep Valdez from hanging around him.  
  
  “What's her name?” Valdez asked, still looking down at the picture of Hazel, expression softer than Frank was familiar with. Still, Frank hesitated. He didn't know Valdez that well. The guy tight-roped the line between genius and fucking stupid, and was more volatile than some chemicals.  
  
 “Hazel,” Frank said after a moment. Valdez hummed, nodding as though he knew already.  
  
 “ _Haazel_ ,” he drew her name out to the point Frank began to feel violated on her behalf.  
  
 “It fits, I like it. I like her. She nice? She is your girlfriend right?” Valdez asked, eyes turning back up to meet Franks, and rearranging himself in what little room he had.  
  
 “Yes, she's my girlfriend. Yes, she's nice, most of the time.” Frank added the last part after a particular memory flooded to the surface of his mind, of Hazel wielding a sword like a champ. He didn't add in the part about her curse though. He wouldn't mention his own curse either.  
  
 “She know you're in prison?” Valdez asked after a moment, not taking his eyes off of Frank.  
  
 “Do you mean, ' _does_ she know I'm in prison'? Yes, she does.” Frank huffed, moving is arms up under his head to prop himself up more.  
  
 “And she's okay with that?” Valdez sounded incredulous at the concept.  
  
 “Well, it's not like she's thrilled I've been imprisoned. I'm _fairly_ sure she'd prefer I not be.” Sarcasm dripped from Frank's tongue.  
  
 “I _mean_ ,” Valdez drew out the word childishly, “she doesn't mind the fact you're a criminal? An outlaw, a thug, a _gangsta_ -” Frank raised his hand up, and Valdez grinned all teeth.  
  
 “Okay, I'm not any of those things. I was wrongfully convicted, but in _your_ country, it's taken longer to prove it than I had expected.”  
  
 “My country?” Valdez laughed, “it's as much yours as mine. And, I'm right there with you, buddy. I'm innocent!”  
  
 “I'm Canadian,” Frank frowned. This was a conversation they'd touched on before, but Valdez never let it go.  
  
 “You got dual citizenship, you're both. Equally. That's why it's called 'dual'.” Valdez corrected.  
  
 “I lived almost my entire life in Canada,” Frank pushed on.  
  
 “Then you should have committed almost all of your crimes _in_ Canada.” Valdez looked content with himself, like cat ate the canary..or given their size difference...canary ate the cat.  
  
 “I didn't commit any crimes!” Valdez' eyes widened, and he put his hand up, but it was all a ruse.  
   
 “Sure, buddy. Sure. I believe you.” Frank huffed again, groaning and dragging a hand down his face.  
  
 “So, _does_ she think you're innocent too?” Valdez asked after a minute, leaning down to get his face closer to Frank's, which made Frank a bit uncomfortable.  
  
 “She was with me at the time. She knows I'm innocent. Do you have anyone to support your claim?” Frank shot back, and was nearly surprised to see a bit of hurt flash past the other boys face.  
  
 “Nope,” Valdez said slowly, “I don't have anybody.”  
  
 “Maybe if you didn't set things on fire for fun, you might.” Frank's voice was barely over a whisper. Quiet, even for them, in an environment where after lights out you had to be near silent anyway.  
  
Valdez laughed, lowly in his chest. He didn't sound amused.  
  
  “That's what you all think, right? Leo _loooves_ fire! Leo loves setting fires, Leo loves to watch things burn. Right? That's what you all think. It's funny, right? Pyromaniac jokes never get old, not when you've got an actual pyromaniac around!”  
His voice was a hiss, to the point where even though Frank could easily snap Valdez like a twig if he wanted, a cold shiver ran down his spine.  
  
 “And they're wrong?” Frank asked, softly, honestly. Leo's eyes bore into his own, searching his own.  
  
 “I hate it,” Leo said simply.  
  
Minutes passed, too many to count in a place where time seemed to flow differently than the outside world anyway.  
  
 “So, tell me, if _Hazel_ knows all about your crimes, Frank..does she know?” Valdez asked, breaking open the silence, voice colder than usual.  
He still wasn't happy, that was easy enough to tell.  
  
 “Does she know what?” Frank asked, sensing the question that would come next but wishing it wouldn't.  
  
 “Does she know about _us_?” Valdez asked, with a crooked smile.  
  
 “I don't know what you're talking about.” Frank denied, but it was pointless to do so.  
  
If anyone were to look into their cell, they'd see well enough the truth. Frank, laying down, jumper pants undone. Valdez, nearly naked, between his legs. Lips wet, and swollen dark red.  
  
  “Does she know you fuck boys too, or am I just special?” Valdez asked, leaning his head down again just slightly so his breath touched on places his lips had just been.  
  
Frank couldn't stop the growl that rumbled up from his throat, as he grabbed Leo by the arm to flip him over and cage him down against the mattress.  
  
That was enough of that discussion.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I decided to continue. 
> 
> This is sort of a lead up to the last chapter, focusing on how Leo ended up where he is. Next chapter will be Frank's turn (with Hazel showing up), and either that chapter, or the chapter after that will have other canon characters showing up. 
> 
> Again, this universe is ultimately the same, with the exception of pretty much none of the 7 knowing they're demigods. Leo doesn't know. Frank doesn't know. Percy doesn't know. Kronos didn't occur, the fight with Gaea did not occur. There are a select few characters that are aware, but i'll be getting to that later.
> 
> There is some violence in this chapter including mentions of attempted sexual assault, so if you're uncomfortable with that, you might want to avoid this chapter. I don't think it will happen again, but if it does, I'll make another warning.

  
  
Leo entered prison when he was 18, just in time to miss out on the joys of juvenile detention.   
  
 He had been 'on the run', so to speak, for awhile now. His last foster home sent him off essentially to a boot camp, that he _essentially_ burned to the ground.   
It wasn't on purpose. It was never on purpose.   
Leo had very little control over his fire then, it seemed to come with his emotions. In that particular case, another camper had been royally pissing him off for a week or better, and then it got physical.   
 The first punch that landed on Leo's face had been the last. The guy pulled his hand back, burned and blistered, and before Leo knew it fire was spreading to everything around him. He didn't run then, Leo had been too shocked. Troopers dragged Leo into their office, and questioned him for hours. Leo denied everything, and was only let off the hook because no one could ever prove how he did it. They only had the other boy's account to go off of, and was a worse offender than Leo. Finally, they settled on the belief that the other boy had started the fire, accidentally burned his hand in the process, and Leo just happened to be there at the wrong time.  
That didn't stop suspicion though, the police were aware of what had happened to Leo's mother. They knew it wasn't the first time Leo had been found, 'in the wrong place at the wrong time.'   
They just couldn't prove anything.  
  
 Leo wasn't concerned with the cops then, he was more worried about the likelihood of him accidentally burning down a foster house sometime. He began running away with more effort, staying hidden as much as possible. Leo didn't _actually_ want to hurt anyone, he wasn't that kind of guy.  
  
  _Then_ the monsters started showing up. Leo had absolutely no idea what to do about them. He didn't know what they were, other than they seemed to want to kill him up real good. No one else seemed to notice them, of course; but Leo wasn't under the assumption he had ever been normal, so it wasn't hugely shocking that this would happen to him.  
A few times as a kid, Leo was certain he had seen something strange, but no one else did so he just shrugged it off. By the time he was 16, things had begun really picking up in the horrible business. Leo's control over whatever crazy magical powers he had were improved, if not only because he was regularly avoiding being viciously murdered by creatures.   
  
There was fall out, of course. If something chased him into a building, then there was a good chance the building was coming down. Fire didn't discriminate between monster, person, or structure. It'd burn everything it was able to. And boy, if he didn't burn down _plenty_ of places.  
  
This started Leo's true unfortunate relationship with the law.   
He'd run, they'd catch him, he'd burn out of his handcuffs. He'd run, they'd catch him, he'd manage to rewire and steal a cop car. It just went on and on.  
Until it didn't.   
Waking up with 5 officers pointing guns at his face was one of _least_ favorite ways to wake up.   
  
So, Leo found himself being transported to a Federal Prison somewhere in the country. Officers near him at every step, making sure there was no chance for escape.   
  
Leo found himself wondering if prison wouldn't actually be that bad. No more sleeping on park benches, burnt out cars; no more getting attacked by monsters.   
Hopefully anyway.   
  
 After the hours long medical check up, Leo was cleared. Underweight, vitamin deficient, but no one cared about that.   
He wouldn't be put in the Special Needs Yard, even though he told the guard he was Bi. Gay prisoners weren't supposed to be around the regular prisoners, but one of the officers who escorted him informed the guard Leo was just 'being cheeky'. He wasn't, but Leo wasn't really counting on telling any other inmates the details of his sexuality, so he didn't hugely care.   
  
His cellmate was another Latino man, not much older than Leo. It wasn't hugely shocking, Leo was well aware they tended to segregate inmates.  
They were _counting_ on you to join a gang. It wasn't optional.   
  
His cellmate, had been in a gang outside of prison, and was similarly expecting Leo to join. He promised Leo wouldn't get, 'taken advantage of', if he was with them.  
He told Leo that because he was so young, so small, so weak, it'd be easy for Leo to become a target.  
Leo had only been his cellmate for a few days before a few of his new 'brothers' decided to be the ones to target him first.   
  
He knew the rumors of course, rape in prisons was almost a joke in common culture, but Leo figured it was likely overblown. Something to prey on the fears of men.   
The first guy, a former cartel member, was the first to corner Leo. It didn't end well. For the cartel member.  
He had pulled Leo away from the group, into a fairly low travel area, smiling and telling a joke that would only make sense in Spanish. Then, he shoved Leo against a wall. Leo, shoved back, except his hands had the added benefit of being made of fire.   
The guy's screaming brought guards, and a crowd. They found Leo, standing over a man who was writhing on the floor. The guards were confused, everyone was confused, the man had obviously been burned. Badly so, but they found nothing on Leo. Even odder, was the burn marks seemed to be in the shape of hand prints.   
  
The next day, when Leo was put back with his cellmate, there was another incident. His cellmate didn't take kindly to his friend getting burned, and was set on vicious repayment.  
He fell as well, and this time Leo hadn't been as good about containing his powers. He had been tired, nerves shot. Half of his cell was burned, along with his cellmate who had long since passed out from the pain.   
  
The guards couldn't explain it, Leo wasn't about to try. At that point, regardless of their gang affiliation, all Spanish speaking men of the prison took to calling Leo the same name he had heard as a child.

' _El Diablo_ '  
  
It got to the point where no one bothered him, which Leo was happy about. At first, there had been talk about moving him into a new yard, away from the normal prisoners, for safety reasons. Leo didn't know if they meant his safety, or theirs.   
Eventually, the powers that be decided Leo just needed a new cellmate.  
Someone easy going enough to not prompt any attacks, while being hopefully being strong enough to prevent any that might come.   
  
Enter Frank Zhang, the biggest motherfucker Leo had ever seen. Whatever Leo's height was, Frank was better than a foot taller. Nearly three persons wider too, and scarily enough, not much seemed to be fat. Though, that said, Frank had a slightly babyish face. It made him look like a friendly giant.   
  
Frank wasn't that friendly, Leo would find out quickly.   
  
“Hi,” Leo greeted his new cellmate with a sheepish smile and wave. Frank didn't say anything back, looking at Leo with an expression that radiated annoyance.   
  
“ _Soo..._  anyway, I'm Leo. Leo Valdez.” Frank cocked an eyebrow, just barely.  
  
“I know who you are,” he said. Frank's voice was deep but smooth. It was a very North Western accent.  
  
“Cool, cool.” Leo nodded, looking around the cell. If he had to guess, it was bigger than his last by a few feet. They were also in a more secluded part of housing.   
  
“You top bunk or bottom bitch?” Leo grinned at his joke, but Frank's expression didn't waver.  
  
“Man, what am I saying? Obviously you're not going to be on the top bunk. You'd crush me to death if the thing collapsed. Which it would, because you're massive.”  
  
Frank's eyebrows dropped slightly at that, and Leo sent him a challenging smirk. It was time to draw lines in the sand. If this guy was a threat, Leo was going to take care of him _before_ unpacking. Just to save time.  
  
“You are an idiot,” Frank said simply, before sitting down on the bottom bunk and picking up a book. Leo hummed to himself, approving of the large bear slash man.  
  
“You sure I'm not a genius?” Leo pushed, taking a few deliberate steps to sit beside Frank on the bed. When Frank turned to give him a very obvious, 'what the fuck are you doing?' stare, Leo simply batted his eyelashes at the big guy.   
  
“Pretty sure,” Frank drawled.   
  
“Yo, where you from, my man?” Leo brought up his legs on the bed, crossing them under him. Frank glared accusingly at the shoes on his bunk.  
  
“Vancouver, take off your shoes before you get on the bed. Were you raised in a barn?” Leo held up his hands, admitting defeat silently, before moving to slip off his shoes.  
  
“Vancouver? Man, I don't know where that is. I'm from Texas.” Frank snorted at that, the closest he had come to laughing yet.  
  
“Are you stating where you are from as well or is that your explanation for not knowing where Vancouver is?”  
  
“Both,” Leo replied instantly.   
  
“Canada. It's in British Columbia, Canada.” Frank added after a moment. Leo's brows dropped in question.  
  
“How the fuck you end up in an American prison, man. Did you commit some horrific crime on American soil? Ooh, did you try to assassinate any politicians. Cus, I got a few I don't like, if you want to make a list.”  
  
Frank rolled his eyes, “I have dual citizenship. I was charged with destruction of property, yes, while on American soil.”  
  
Leo stared blankly, before frowning.   
“That's boring. What did you blow up a lawn ornament or something, what the hell even is destruction of property?”  
  
Frank took a deep breath, looking up at their cement ceiling, like he was counting down from 10 in attempts to calm himself.   
“I played a part in an abandoned building structure falling, or that's what they say.”  
  
Leo whistled, “that's what they say, huh? Playin' the innocent card? You know it's innocent until proven guilty, not innocent after already been proven guilty.”  
  
“Strong words from someone _also in prison_ ,” Frank shot back. Leo shrugged, accepting it.  
  
“You know what they say about you, Valdez?” Frank started again, putting his book down and turning to look at Leo properly.  
  
“Enlighten me,” Leo smiled toothily.  
  
“They say you _burned_ two people,” Frank hissed, beginning to seem more threatening than the baby face would let on.  
  
“I did,” Leo answered simply, “in self defense.”  
Frank smiled, contempt on his face.  
  
“Sure it was, sure.”  
  
“So, Frank, they tell you _how_ I did it?” His grin had yet to fade, and Frank paused.  
  
“No,” he muttered. “I'd imagine with a lighter of some sort.”  
  
Leo made an X with his arms, “nope! Good guess, but no. I had no lighter, no matches, nothing! So, the question is...how did I do it?”  
  
“Acid?” Frank questioned, actually looking mildly interested.  
  
Leo made another X.  
  
“I don't know,” Frank sighed, waving a hand dismissively, “magic piece of driftwood?”  
  
Leo cocked his head in confusion, “....no?”  
  
“Enlighten me,” Frank turned Leo's words back on him which made the shorter boy smile in earnest.   
  
“Maybe once we're better friends.”  
  
“Then I guess I won't get my hopes up.”  
  
  
  


 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These chapters are obviously not as long as my other stories, because I'm writing then updating, rather than my other stories which are mostly pre-written and I'm just editing. I have no idea when updates will happen, but I might be writing on this more for the time being just because I'm in the mood to. I honestly wanted to write like just a fluffy valentines day fic, but I severely got distracted.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know how obvious it is, but I have no life. Otherwise I wouldn't be updating this so quickly. 
> 
> Here we have a bit more Frank, Hazel, and maybe other people are starting to show up. 
> 
> I forgot to mention on my other stories, if you need to get a hold of me, or just want to talk, my tumblr is  
> historicallyinnacurate.tumblr.com

  
  
Frank's grandmother had been acting cagey for weeks.  
  
Well, strike that, far longer than weeks. But it had gotten significantly worse. He was getting worried, worried for her health. It was just the two of them now, alone in a house too large for only two.  
He understood why after she gave him the firewood. ...Strike that, he still didn't understand much of anything. His grandmother hadn't said much, besides there would be someone or something to retrieve him and take him to California. There was a brief mention of God's, as in plural, and something about a supposed ancestor named Shen Lun.  
  
Then they were attacked, and Frank was the target. He had no options but to leave the mansion, drawing whatever the hell was attacking him away from his grandmother and home.  
  
Frank won that fight, but found himself standing on the side of the road outside of Vancouver, with nothing but the clothes on his back and a piece of wood that was supposedly connected to his life. Well, that and a wallet, ID, passport, and a few VISA cards.  
  
The only thing he could think of was to go to California, like originally planned.  
  
It didn't take long to catch a bus that was heading south, from Vancouver to Seattle, from which Frank figured he'd just have to improvise once again just to get to San Francisco. He had no idea what waited for him in San Francisco, just it seemed important that he get there.  
  
Frank, at that point, was a bit sweaty and grungy and just really wished he had the chance to take a shower first before boarding the bus.  
He wished so even more when the only available seat was next to a very pretty girl who looked maybe a year or so younger than him.  
  
He smiled at her, awkwardly, she smiled back. Pityingly.  
  
Frank cleared his throat, “are you going to Seattle?”  
  
“No...,” the girl shook her head slowly. She seemed a dazed almost, golden eyes seemed distracted.  
  
“Sorry,” Frank grunted, “sorry. That was rude. I'm Frank, and I'm going to California. I'm from here though.”  
  
She looked at him with a bit more interested, a hint of smile gracing her features.  
  
“Hazel. I'm going to California too, I guess. I'm, uh. American though.”  
  
Frank smiled, “ I guess we'll be travel partners for awhile then. were you visiting family? Sight seeing?”  
  
Hazel smiled while he spoke for a moment, before looking a bit nervous.  
  
“No, I'm...coming down from Alaska.”  
  
Frank opened his mouth in an, 'oh'. He was beginning to get the impression she didn't want to talk about it. Or, maybe didn't want to talk to him.  
Not that he would blame her.  
  
“I'm from New Orleans, originally.” Hazel added after a moment, glancing out the window.  
  
“But.. I'm not going back there, I don't think there's any reason to anymore. Everything has changed so much. No one I knew is....still there.”  
  
Frank was taken back by how sad her expression was, how she was clenching her fists on the seat cloth.  
  
“Did you lose someone?” Frank asked without thinking, realizing his mistake too late. Hazel's head snapped up, her eyes wide.  
  
“God, sorry again. I'm not ...I'm not good at this. Sorry, you just..sort of reminded me of..uh, me. My mom died a few weeks ago,” Frank finished wishing he hadn't opened his mouth in the first place. Hazel though, her expression softened, like a good deal of weight was lifted from her.  
  
“Mine too,” she said simply. “I moved to Alaska fairly..abruptly, and I lost contact with a few people I really cared about too.”  
  
“I'm sorry for your loss,” Frank said, feeling like he was parroting back the words he had heard over and over at his own mothers funeral.  
  
“Maybe you could still reconnect with the people you knew in New Orleans, though?” Frank offered, wanting to help. Hazel smiled sadly, shaking her head.  
  
“He's not there anymore either.” Frank put together the pieces fairly quickly.  
  
“Boyfriend?” He asked, to which Hazel hesitated before nodding.  
  
“I'm not sure..how official it was, I suppose. But, he was my first love.” Frank didn't really know how to respond to that, besides offering another sympathetic remark.  
  
They talked for awhile after that, it didn't take long to reach the boarder to the US, but it took longer for the Boarder patrol to do all of their checks.  
  
Frank quite liked Hazel, she was smart and sweet, and danced the line between old fashioned and real firecracker. If he was going to end up sitting next to someone for hours, it could have been a lot worse.  
  
Hazel was a bit odd at times though, he'd mention a show or a movie, and she'd just sort of cock her head in confusion.  
TV, he could understand. Movies, okay, sure.  
Not understanding a Harry Potter reference though? That was weird.  
  
They were nearing Seattle when the unexplainable happened. They stopped, in a small town, surrounded by thick woods, at a fairly regular truck stop to let on more passengers. Only about four people got on, but of those four...three were very decidedly _not_ human.  
  
Frank froze, staring. No one else seemed to notice. They sniffed at the air, before turning to stare back.  
  
A small intake of air next to him, had Frank glancing towards Hazel. She, too, was looking wide eyed at the monsters.  
  
“Well, well. What do we have here?” One beast said.  
  
“Dinner, it appears.” Another said.  
  
Frank stood quickly, the bus hadn't started moving yet. He didn't know what he was going to do, but he would risk his life if it meant making sure Hazel and the rest of the passengers were okay. There were small children on the bus, a pregnant woman, an old man. Frank wasn't about to endanger them because of him.  
  
He didn't get time to act, because Hazel moved faster than him, reaching into the overhead compartment area and pulling out a tennis racket.  
  
In seconds it was complete pandemonium.  
  
Passengers were screaming, and the bus was rocking. Hazel was wailing on the monsters, but about to be over taken. Then Frank joined in, having nothing but his bare fists.  
When the opportunity came, they pushed outside and the monsters followed. The bus fled as soon as they could, leaving Hazel and Frank behind.  
  
It took a few minutes of fighting, Frank and Hazel had defeated the creatures in a final blow that evaporated them into golden mist.  
But, they were still alone in a small town, at night.  
  
“So, uh, you can see them too then?” Frank panted, sitting down on the curb. Hazel joined him, breathing hard as well, her hair had gone wild and frizzy in the commotion.  
  
“Yes,” she nodded, “unfortunately I seem to be cursed.” Frank laughed, and it hurt.  
  
“I think we might both be then.” Hazel shook her head.  
  
“I died. I should be dead right now. I'm...not sure what happened, or where I went. But I'm not supposed to be here.” Hazel admitted, her voice was thick with emotion. Her eyes searched Frank's own. Frank was kind of at a loss.  
  
“I..don't understand. There's a lot I don't understand right now though, so it might just be me.” Hazel laughed softly, wiping sweat from her forehead.  
  
“I died in the 1940's. I was brought back to life. I'm not sure how, or who did it. All I know is a skeleton told me to go to San Francisco.”  
  
Frank blinked, “oh. I guess that explains why you don't know what Hogwarts is.”

Hazel sniffed dismissively, “that sounds awful. Hog Warts. Pig lesions.”  
  
And that was really the start of their relationship.  
  
They spent the next _year_ together just trying to get to San Francisco. Every single time they got close, more and more monsters would appear.  
  
So, they stopped trying. It wasn't that they gave up, but whatever they were doing was not the right approach. They were still young, and fairly inexperienced. They had no idea what they were up against, though every once in awhile there was a small spark of recognition of a name or face.  
  
Frank and Hazel knew that whatever it was, was something out of legend.  
  
So, they needed to be legendary themselves. So they would train, work on improving their own skills.  
They both appeared to have some type of magic, though neither of them had been much in the way of believers up until that point.  
  
Hazel seemed to have some innate sense about the world around them, specifically the ground. She was quick and sharp and deadly.  
It took awhile, but she began to also master whatever magic it was that kept a curtain over the eyes of normal people. It was like a strange fog or mist that changed and reflected back what someone expected to see rather than what was there.  
  
Frank on the other hand, continued to grow up and out, and much to his own happiness lost a great deal of his childhood pudge. He was tall, and dangerous. There were few weapons that Frank didn't feel at complete ease using.  
In addition to physical prowess, Frank had a little trick up his sleeve. Shape shifting.  
He had quite bit of problems with it at first, at one point getting stuck in a form for a week that left Hazel carrying around her boyfriend/gerbil. But, eventually, Frank mastered that as well. It took a lot of energy, but the animal kingdom was at his fingertips. Oddly enough, Frank realized, it didn't seem to just be the animals he knew of.  
Frank had once taken on the form of a dragon, to his, and the monsters he was fighting, surprise.  
  
Which is why it seemed absolutely _ridiculous_ for someone like himself to get sent to federal prison.  
  
And it was _of course_ on their way to San Francisco. First attempt again in years. It seemed like they really were cursed.  
  
Frank was nearing 20 by then, stronger than he had ever been. Monsters knew of him and Hazel now, and they were afraid.  
The monsters called them rogues.  
  
Their only hope to win a fight was to try an overpower Frank and Hazel by using numbers.  
  
This fight, in particular, had spilled into a city in northern California. Trying to avoid any civilian injuries or casualties, Frank and Hazel purposely drew the battle into an abandoned building structure that was in the process of being rebuilt.  
It was a mistake, the things...whatever they were, had massive numbers. The flooded the building, making it nearly impossible to move.  
Frank decided the best option was to turn into something that could flatten them, and an African elephant fit the bill. This was also a mistake, because at the same time Hazel was causing was amounted to a small earthquake.  
  
Frank wasn't sure what happened, but he found himself slamming into a wall. A load baring wall. Combined with that and the ground moving below them, the building began to give way.  
  
The last thing Frank remembered was Hazel screaming his name.  
  
\--  
  
He woke up in the hospital, handcuffed to the bed. He broke out of them easily, but the officers who had been posted outside of his room were less impressed with his feat of strength.  
  
Somehow it had been determined that it was Frank's fault that the building had collapsed. Admittedly, it sort of was, but it seemed like it should have been impossible to prove. They wanted to someone to blame, and blame him.  
  
At the very least, while being transported to the prison, Frank caught a glimpse of Hazel. She was watching, following them, no doubt keeping tabs on him while still staying out of the eye of the law..  
He was just happy to see her safe.  
  
Prison was interesting to say the least. It could have been a lot worse, overcrowding in American prisons was well known, but his was fairly reasonably sized.  
They had actual cells, and seemed to be one or two to them, like very unfortunate room mates that no one wanted.  
  
Frank was actually alone at first, though was informed he'd be getting a cellmate soon. He tried to keep to himself, seem as nonthreatening as possible.  
  
He wasn't going to stay in prison, after all. Frank could shape shift, and he was going to make good use of it. But, he couldn't do it when he was constantly being watched.  
  
It didn't help that when he arrived, the Prison was already on a sort of lock down. An inmate had been severely injured by another, supposedly having been burned by the other. It reportedly was gang related, but some commotion within the Latino gangs.  
  
Frank's first lunch, he found himself sitting next to a fairly friendly dark haired guy with very sea green eyes. Percy, his name was.  
  
“No one knows how it happened,” Percy said, with a nod at a small figure across the lunchroom.  
  
“That, is Leo Valdez. He's the guy who did it.”  
  
Frank didn't think the kid looked that threatening. He wondered what he could have possibly done to get on the bad side of whomever attacked him.  
Slim, small, slight, short. Scary, was not one of those.  
But, Frank couldn't deny the fact absolutely no one was sitting next to Valdez. There were some pretty scary looking guys in this prison. People older, with scars and tattoos that designated rank.  
They were all avoiding Valdez like the plague.  
  
“He doesn't seem like much,” Frank muttered, not touching his prison food. Percy chuckled, nodding.  
  
“I'd agree with you, if I hadn't seen the aftermath. Valdez was standing above the guy, who was like...jeez..not your height, but over 6 foot. The guy was just crumpled on the ground, screaming. Valdez was just smiling. Not a scratch on him. Trust me, it was weird.”  
  
Frank wasn't particularly scared of Valdez, not by that description. A bit unnerved, because the guy seemed nuts, but pyromaniac punks were pretty low on his list of worries.  
Might have been higher, if Hazel wasn't the one carrying his firewood.  
  
“I've seen weirder,” Frank remarked under his breath, picking up the roll on his tray and looking it over to see if it was actually edible or not.  
  
Percy hummed in agreement, “yeah? Me too.”  
  
Frank doubted it. They returned to their meals in silence.  
  
\--  
  
That night, there was a commotion somewhere in the prison. Frank didn't know where from, but guards were running around. Everything was locked down.  
Prisoners were sticking their heads out of the bars, trying to get a better look.  
  
The guards sounded pissed off, but also more than a little spooked.  
  
“What happened?” An inmate shouted to a passing guard, this one was younger and looked more disturbed than the others. Someone who was more likely to crack.  
  
“Is Valdez dead yet?” Another person asked, laughing.  
  
A few other inmates began to snicker, and Frank realized what had happened likely had something to do with retaliation. How in the hell did someone like Valdez become a target of an entire gang?  
It was a grim reminder that he was in prison...not curled up next to a camp fire with Hazel.  
  
The guard shook his head, and the laughter from the inmates stopped.  
  
“No,” he whispered. “His cellmate might be though.”  
  
There was silence, and even Frank found himself shocked.  
  
“He burned him,” the guard continued, voice shaking. “He burned everything. Valdez. Half the cell was burned to a crisp. Valdez...he was sitting on his cot, not a scratch.”  
  
“ _El diablo_ ,” an inmate said. A chorus followed him.  
  
\--  
  
It was a week or so later, Frank saw Valdez around occasionally, but always off in the distance.  
Always alone.  
  
Frank was friendly enough with Percy now, the days didn't seem as terrible as they had right at first, though he was still eager to get out to see Hazel.  
  
He should have known any peace wouldn't last, as he glanced up to see the Warden standing in front of his cell.  
  
“Congrats, Zhang. You're getting a friend.”  
  
Frank didn't say anything while Leo Valdez was led in. The bars closed hard behind them.  
  
  
  
  


 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things get a little longer, a little more complicated, and maybe a bit steamier. 
> 
> I could have broken this up into two chapters, but...then I'd have to do this twice. 
> 
> (Frank and Leo's POV switches a few times in this, I'm not going to mark, but it should be fairly easy enough to tell.)

  
  
Leo Valdez was, by far, the worst person to share any enclosed with.   
  
It wasn't the sarcasm, it wasn't the jokes about Frank's weight, it wasn't any of that.  
  
It was the tapping.   
The constant movement of limbs and fingers at all times.   
  
..That aside, Frank was surprised Valdez wasn't worse. He was expecting a scheming sociopath, a pyromaniac with a grudge.   
What he actually got was around 170cm and 52kg of ADHD in human form.  
  
Valdez was, in what little defense the boy deserved, fairly quiet otherwise. He honestly didn't go out of his way to socialize with other inmates.  
  
Key word being _other_ inmates.   
  
If they were near one another, Valdez was talking at him. In the morning, in the showers, at meals, if Frank had the unfortunate of working next to Valdez that day, and it was Valdez' voice Frank heard last before he fell asleep.   
That sparked a few dreams he'd rather not think about.   
  
Percy, for his part, seemed to notice Frank was one panda joke away from slamming Valdez against a wall and crushing his larynx, and joined in with their discussions at meal time.   
Valdez was decidedly less talkative to Percy, seeming almost a bit uneasy around the other guy, but would still carry on with him if need be.   
  
It was one morning, just over a week after Valdez had moved into Frank's cell, the younger guard Frank was familiar with, walked up to their table in the dining hall.  
  
“Zhang, we've received a request from a civilian hoping for phone privileges with you. You can approve or disapprove of their request. If you approve them, once a week you are allowed 15 minutes to speak to them on only a land line phone. No cellphones.”  
  
Percy and Valdez made, 'oooh'ing noises, like they were in middle school instead of prison.  
  
“Can I have their name?” Frank asked, ignoring the two. The guard unfolded a sheet of paper to read off a name.  
  
“A...Miss Levesque?” The guard didn't pronounce her name correctly, which wasn't hugely surprising. He didn't say Frank's name correctly either.  
  
“Approved,” Frank nodded, thanking him a moment later. The guard wrote something down on the sheet, before beginning to turn away. But then he paused.  
  
“Valdez,” the guard started, looking a bit nervous. He didn't say Valdez correctly either.   
  
“Yuppers?” Valdez grinned up at the man in uniform, who grimaced slightly.  
  
“Warden wants to know how you and your cellmate are doing.”  
  
Without a beat, Valdez put on the most innocent expression he could, blinking big soft eyes.  
  
“Why?” He was feigning ignorance, smiling like he didn't understand the reasoning behind the prison's concern.   
It had the intended effect, the guard began shifting uneasily, wringing obviously sweating palms.  
  
“I-I..do-”  
  
“Everything is fine,” Frank cut in, trying to save the poor miserable bastard. Valdez gave him a look that obviously read that he was upset Frank ruined his fun.   
  
“Good. Um, have a good day then.” The guard scurried off, flinching when Valdez yelled out, “we can't! We're in prison!”  
  
Frank sighed, returning to his meal. Then the silence got to him, which could only mean bad things, and he looked up to see Percy looking at him curiously, while similarly Valdez was looking at him with his chin resting against palms.   
  
“Miss, huh?” Valdez grinned, and Percy looked like he was fighting the urge to as well.   
  
“Does someone have a girlfriend they didn't tell their room-buddy about?”  
  
“You're not my buddy, you're an inmate the state has placed into the same cell as me. And, yes, I have a girlfriend. End of discussion.” Frank stated, trying to use his best Leader voice.   
He wouldn't give Valdez the chance to respond either, standing up and removing his tray.   
  
Frank made the mistake of glancing back to the table, as he left the dining hall. Valdez was watching, expression nearly blank, but his eyes seemed to be glinting just so.  
He was fairly certain the discussion was in fact not over.   
  
Frank didn't have long to think about it, rounding a corner and bumping into another inmate.   
  
“Sorry, man,” Frank apologized. It might not have been prison behavior to say you're sorry, but Frank didn't buy into the whole prison culture anyway.   
  
“No worries, actually, I need to speak to you anyway.”  
  
Frank looked at the person in full, and realized he wasn't that familiar with them. Probably in a different yard than Frank was.  
He had short cropped blond hair, very blue eyes, and glasses.   
  
“I don't think we've met,” Frank said simply, to which the other nodded.  
  
“We haven't. I'm Jason Grace.”  
  
Frank instinctively put out his hand to shake, which Jason Grace glanced towards, before shaking firmly. Frank decided Jason seemed like an okay guy. Not many inmates were big on shaking hands, but he viewed it as it was intended way back when. It was a sign of trust and goodwill.   
  
“What did you need to talk to me about?”  
  
“It's about Valdez, actually.” Frank frowned. Everything seemed to be about Valdez.   
  
“I overheard a few of the guys in the _Trituradora_ gang say they were planning something in regards to Valdez. The Russians seem to be in on it too, for whatever reason. I was actually just going to tell Valdez myself, but I thought it might be better if the news came from you instead.”  
  
Frank found himself sighing again.  
  
“Right, thanks I guess. I don't know what difference I'll make, but..good to know I suppose.”  
  
Jason left after that, as quickly as he came. There was a good chance he didn't want to be seen speaking to Frank given his association to Valdez, but Frank wouldn't have pinned Jason as the cowardly type. He seemed fairly calm and collected, but had an air around him that made it seem like you probably didn't want to piss the guy off.   
  
But, Frank didn't entirely trust him either. Right now, Jason seemed to be siding with Valdez for whatever reason.   
Frank really didn't like not knowing the whole story.   
  
\---   
  
After Frank left the dining hall, Leo didn't really stop to think that he was supposed to carry on eating and talking to people, which is why it surprised him when Jackson spoke to him.  
  
“So, Leo, have you heard about the ghost?” Jackson asked, stabbing a piece of peach on his tray.   
  
“Ghost?” Leo asked, raising an eyebrow. “Like, _too spooky_ kind, or is there some band I don't know of?”  
  
“Yeah, that's what I thought. I thought you had shown up after all of that commotion. See, before you got here and became the most talked about thing, people were freaked out because there was apparently a ghost lurking around the facility.” Jackson explain, grinning a little at Leo.  
  
Leo took that to mean Jackson wasn't threatened by Leo's ... _firey_ reputation. Maybe he didn't believe it, or maybe he just didn't care. Either way, it was nice to not have someone whispering behind his back.  
  
“You're saying the prison is haunted?” Leo asked flatly, and Percy nodded.   
  
“I didn't believe them either, I've been here for a couple years now and it seemed completely stupid at first. But I actually saw it, the ghost. I was just coming back to the cell for light's out, glanced down a hallway and saw it.”   
  
Leo stared at him with an incredulous expression, trying not to laugh. In all honestly, Leo had seen monsters before...maybe a ghost wasn't too unreasonable.   
  
“It. So, are we talking a shadow, or a full on ghoul?” Leo questioned, and Jackson laughed.  
  
“See, I thought it was just an inmate at first. They looked..like, completely human. I mean, alive. But they weren't wearing a jumper. So I started to walk towards them, but once they saw me, the guy smiled and then stepped backwards into the shadows and vanished. Then I got to thinking about it, and the guy matched the other descriptions people had given, like..to a T.”  
  
Leo was beginning to think Jackson was a big fan of creepypasta as he spoke, but he had to admit..his curiosity was piqued.   
  
“What'd he look like?”  
  
“Goth,” Jackson responded instantly.  
  
“Gothic, or, all black clothes and likes bad music kind of goth?”  
  
“The last one,” Jackson said with an easy smile. “Kinda pale, dark kinda..wavy floppy sort of hair. Dark clothes. Aviator jacket.”   
  
“Wow, lame.” Leo frowned, and Jackson shrugged a shoulder.  
  
“I don't know, I thought he looked very antihero-y”  
  
“It sounds like we're being haunted by the X-Men, man. Not very cool.”  
  
-  
  
Breakfast ended not long after, but Leo had time to go back to the cell first. He wanted to see if Frank was there, and pester him about his girlfriend if at all possible.   
The hallways were oddly deserted for the time of day, and the few prison guards around looked bored and weren't particularly paying attention.   
  
Leo was just passing another hallway, that led to a different yard, to reach the staircase that would lead to his cell when he saw it.

Leo saw the fucking ghost. In broad daylight, what the fuck kind of ghost was he?  
  
It matched Percy's description. The kid looked near Leo's age, but like if Leo hated color in his wardrobe, and really enjoyed lurking in the shadows.   
He caught Leo's gaze, and crossed his arms. _Jackson_ got a smile, Leo thought with some offense.   
  
“Who the fuck...,” Leo trailed off, not raising his voice for fear it would attract the guards attention.  
  
The guy rolled his eyes, and turned around and walked off. Didn't vanish. Didn't faze through the wall. He just turned around and walked away then turned a corner until he was out of Leo's sight.   
  
Leo began to take a step towards the guy, when a hand landed on his shoulder.  
  
Leo was not proud of the shriek he made.  
  
Frank similarly looked startled at the noise.   
Seeing it was Frank, Leo was actually proud of the fact he didn't actually combust and hurt the guy. Anyone else here, he wouldn't have cared so much.   
  
“Jesus _christ_ dude,” Leo wheezed, “for a big guy ..you move like a fucking cat.”   
  
“I've had practice,” Frank said, monotone, his eyes still a bit big. “What the hell happened to you?”  
  
“I saw a ghost, ask Jackson about it later.” Leo said simply, leaning up against the wall, trying to tell his heart to stop pounding.   
  
“Uh, okay? No one attacked you though, right?” Frank asked, to which Leo cracked an eye open to peer up at him.  
  
“...No? Why?”  
  
“...Jason Grace, another inmate, told me he heard some of the gang members you pissed off talking. They're plotting something, and apparently the Russian's have their backs.” Frank explained, sounding a bit closed off, like it was a burden to tell Leo.  
  
Leo snorted, “they can try. I'm remarkably hard to kill.”  
  
“That oddly doesn't surprise me,” Frank mumbled  
  
A bell rang, telling it was time to get to their work stations.   
  
Leo had a lot to think about.   
  
-  
  
He didn't get the chance to, because as he was finishing at his station, the _Trituradora_ showed up.   
  
It was only then that Leo realized that the only other people in the room with him were Russian gang members.  
It was hard to tell before, their work was baking bread goods for their institute and other institutes in the state, and handling food meant they wore hair nets and face masks. It wasn't easy to see other people's faces, Frank being the only exception since he towered over the other inmates.   
He didn't know all of them had been, but seeing how they were steadfastly looking in the other direction, it was a pretty good guess.  
  
“You're going to pay, you fucking little mangy cunt.” One nasty fellow hissed, holding a switchblade. Leo was actually a little impressed the guy had managed to smuggle it into the prison.  
  
“Wow, that's a big knife. Must have hurt,” Leo whistled, and the man's eyes narrowed.  
  
“The fuck you talking about?”  
  
“That knife,” Leo pointed, “it must have hurt getting it in here. I'm guessing you had it up your ass the entire time, right?”  
  
The guy was fuming so much, Leo was certain he'd be the one to burst into flames instead. It didn't get better when one of the Russian's snickered in the background.   
  
“I'm going to fucking kill you,” the guy screamed, veins on the side of his bald head bulging.  
  
“Aw,” Leo pouted, “ _mi camarada_ , can't we work this out?”  
  
The guy's buddy flipped out a knife too, so that seemed like they wouldn't be talking about their feelings anytime soon.  
  
“I guess not,” Leo sighed.  
  
Then he lit himself on fire, completely and totally.   
  
They didn't try to stab him after that, they were too busy screaming and trying to run in the other direction. Tripping over themselves the entire way.   
One accidentally cut one of the Russian's and Leo figured whatever allegiance they once had was now over.  
  
The guy who had laughed was the last to leave, staring at Leo with wide eyes for a moment, before muttering something that sounded like pillbug; but Leo was certain it was something in Russian that Leo just didn't understand.   
  
Leo then found himself in a deserted room, so he let the flames die out.  
And then looked down to remember all of his clothes had burned to ash. Body, fireproof. Clothing, not.   
It was inconvenient to say the least.   
  
Even more so when Frank came running in with two guards. They froze.   
  
“Leo, why are you naked?” Frank hissed, and Leo was just happy he used his first name.   
  
“....Fun fact, gang bangers? Prudes. Couldn't handle the nudity. They whip out knives, I whip _mine_ out. They run.” Leo shrugged, turning to the guards.  
  
“Hi,” he smiled, “would it trouble you to grab me a new jumper and pair of boxers?”   
  
One pointed at the ground around Leo's feet, “are those ashes?”  
  
“Well, you can check out the security cameras later if you really want to know,” Leo shrugged. Nothing ever showed on cameras. He had no idea why, but nothing ever did. It would glitch or go fuzzy, nothing of worth ever actually showed.   
  
“You didn't burn anyone or anything?” Frank asked, sounding more like he was reprimanding a petulant child.   
  
“ _No_ ,” Leo shook his head, feigning ignorance. “Why would you think that?”  
  
“6 full grown men ran out of the room screaming in three languages, the general gist being you are the great Satan,” Frank said flatly, crossing his arms in a way that reminded Leo of the mystery ghost man.  
  
“Like I said,” Leo shrugged, “prudes.”  
  
Frank huffed, rolling his eyes, before pausing and turning to the guards next to him.  
  
“Will one of you go get him some clothes?! NOW,” Frank snapped, sounding like a Drill Sargent, and the guards similarly exchanged a look before running out of the room.   
  
Leo shifted in spot, now that it was just him alone with Frank, and moved his hands to cover more delicate regions of his body.   
  
“So, about that girlfriend of yours...”  
  
Frank gave him a look, before turning around and leaving.   
Leo smiled to himself, that was easy enough.   
  
\-----  
  
That night, Frank found himself pacing. The source of his discontent, Valdez, was hanging over the side of his bunk like a lazy cat, watching him the entire time.   
  
“Do you have no sense of self preservation?” Frank finally snapped, stopping to look at Valdez, who shrugged a shoulder.  
  
“What do you care?”   
  
“I don't!” He didn't. Right?  
  
“Then why ask?” Valdez mumbled, kicking his feet back and forth slowly. It was very distracting.  
  
Frank shook his head in disbelief, “I'm just amazed someone with so little sense has stayed alive as long as you have.”  
  
“Makes two of us, buddy.” Valdez sounded distracted, definitely, which made Frank more annoyed.  
  
“I'm sorry,” Frank groused, “am I distracting you from something?”  
  
“Kinda,” Valdez stopped kicking and began tapping. “Did you talk to Jackson at all?”  
  
“No, Valdez, I didn't. I was too busy being interrogated by the Warden, because of you. I missed two meals, and don't you dare say anything about my weight.”  
  
Valdez sighed over dramatically as was his wont, sitting up fully to look at Frank.   
  
“The prison is supposedly haunted, and I think I saw it.”  
  
Frank stared, blinking, before bringing his hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose.   
“Unbelievable. You're almost stabbed to death by members of two gangs, and you're more concerned you might have seen casper.”  
  
Valdez frowned, “hey now, there was no stabbing whatsoever. They were big babies.”  
  
“You threatened them with fire!”  
  
“Prove it,” Valdez sneered, knowing Frank couldn't. Frank had been there when the Warden and guards reviewed the footage of Valdez in the kitchen's bakery. A good 30 seconds of footage was missing, glitched somehow.   
Frank had no idea what happened or how it happened, but there was a voice in the back of his head wondering is Valdez was like him and Hazel...or if he was like the monsters.   
  
“Plus,” Valdez started, beginning to swing his legs again, “the way I see it? Finding out if there's an afterlife is more important than a few douchebags.”  
  
Valdez had a look on his face, a sort of distant expression that Frank had seen before. He'd seen it on himself, and he'd seen it on Hazel.  
  
“Did you lose someone?” Frank asked, not thinking. Not stopping to think it was word for word what he had asked Hazel when he first met her all those years ago.   
Valdez, similarly, looked a bit surprised.   
  
“Why'd you ask?” He asked, brows just slightly together, like he was trying to figure Frank out instead of it being the other way around.  
  
Frank bit his tongue, trying to think of the best way to phrase his reply that wouldn't say too much about himself.  
  
“It just seems like, there are a lot of people here who either have a lot of faith ..or no faith. If you're someone who wants there to be something to believe in, you'd probably either have lost someone you care about and want to see again..or you want some sort of higher power judging you instead of the state. Inmates either want someone to wipe away their own guilt, or they want someone to prove their innocence. Either way, they want redemption, but you don't seem like that type.”  
  
Leo didn't say anything for a moment, but his tapping got louder  
  
“I suppose you're right,” Valdez said with a lopsided smile. “I was orphaned when I was 8. Single parent.”  
  
Frank was tempted to say something like, 'I'm an orphan too', but this wasn't really a bonding moment.  
  
“How did they die?” Was all he asked, and the answer he received made Frank more uneasy than he had ever been around any monster.  
  
“She burned to death.”  
  
  
\---   
  
Frank didn't sleep well that night, and from the tossing and turning, he didn't think Valdez had either.   
  
They didn't speak to one another as the guard came around and opened cells.  
This time of year, the sun wasn't even up yet when they were, so they couldn't count on light from outside streaming in through the windows.   
It was dark, and the prison made it feel like they were miles and miles away from any other humans.   
  
Frank was surprised to see Jason Grace sitting at their usual table, talking to Percy. He had no idea the two knew each other.  
  
“You're in one piece,” Jason commented to Valdez when he sat down. The blond got a side eye stare from Valdez in return for speaking to him.   
  
“Jason Grace. He's the person who warned me yesterday.” Frank could sense Valdez didn't know who Jason was, and answered his question before it was spoken.  
  
“Couldn't tell me yourself?” Valdez shot at Jason, who shrugged.  
  
“I told Zhang, he told you, does it matter who told whom what first?” Jason asked, and Valdez narrowed his eyes just slightly, but less like a glare and more like he was trying to pick out exactly what Jason had said.   
  
“When you put it like that, no.” Valdez muttered, turning back to his tray. He seemed a bit miffed, but not angry.   
  
Jason looked him over, which Valdez noticed and seemed uncomfortable with.  
  
“I'm not afraid or threatened by you, Leo Valdez. We've all got reputations, but I particularly don't like bullies, and as far as I can tell...you're the one getting targeted rather than seeking out trouble on your own. I'll help if I can, but I can't be everywhere at once.”  
  
Valdez appraised Jason for a moment, before turning to Frank, “he believes it was self defense. Why don't you?”  
  
Frank ignored him.   
  
“Percy, I didn't know you knew Jason.”   
  
Percy and Jason both look mildly surprised by that.   
  
“Seriously? I guess you haven't been here long...Jason's my cellmate. We have different schedules most days, though.” Percy added the last part as a seeming afterthought.   
  
“We used to have more the same, got too competitive.” Jason said, smiling just barely. It made the scar on his upper lip stand out more. Frank wondered what the story was behind it.   
  
“Cool scar, man.” Valdez said, which made Frank fear the guy's mind reading abilities.   
  
“Get it in a fight?”  
  
Jason shook his head, “tried to eat a stapler as a toddler.”  
  
“Capitol L-Lame,” Valdez said, but there was humor in his voice. He seemed to like Jason better than Percy for whatever reason.   
  
“Oh, Jackson. I forgot to say, I think I saw your ghostie yesterday.” Percy looked at Valdez with interest. Jason, on the other hand seemed like he was fighting the urge to roll his eyes.  
  
“Yeah? Seriously?”  
  
“I got to say man, he didn't seem very ghost like to me. He just walked down the hallway like he didn't give a shit.”  
  
“That's because he isn't a ghost,” Jason sighed, which got him a look from Percy. “I keep telling Percy, I've talked to the guy before. He's not a ghost.”  
  
“Then what is his name?” Percy asked defensively.  
  
“I don't know,” Jason said flatly. “I don't think that proves he's a ghost.”  
  
“He fazed through a wall, if he's not a ghost he's definitely not human.” Percy snapped, and Frank got the feeling this was a conversation they had had before.   
  
But, what if Percy was right? Maybe it wasn't a ghost, instead, maybe it was a monster? Frank hadn't seen any since arriving in prison, but that didn't mean they weren't there.  
  
“I'm not sure if he was a ghost, but you have to admit it's a bit strange. Some random guy's walking around a federal prison without the guards noticing or stopping him. If he worked with the prison, why isn't he in uniform, why doesn't he have a pass?” Valdez cut in.   
  
As Valdez spoke, Frank remembered he wasn't actually as big of an idiot as he played sometimes.   
What he said actually did raise some concerns.  
  
“What do you think?” Jason asked Valdez honestly. Valdez paused at the attention.  
  
“I don't know. Regardless of _what_ he is. My guess is intel is the game. He doesn't seem to be going out of his way to scare people, no one has died, and more importantly he keeps popping up again.” Valdez held up his hand to tick off fingers, pausing just briefly to shrug a shoulder.  
  
“Reportedly, anyway. I've only seen him the once. But, I'd wager, he has a way into the prison and he's gathering information on something or someone.”   
  
Percy and Jason seemed to be deep in thought as Valdez spoke, and while Frank had no stake in the conversation he had to admit he was....a little impressed.   
  
“What do you think we should do?” Percy asked after a moment, crossing his fingers and looking a lot more serious than Frank had seen him before. Percy had always struck Frank as a fairly laid back guy, but he couldn't deny the guy was in prison for a reason, and more than that...had been in prison for quite some time.   
  
Valdez hummed, tapping his fingers on the table a few times. Frank looked up just in time to see a look of recognition flit across Jason's expression. It didn't seem like they knew each other, so what was it that Jason recognized?   
Then it hit him, the tapping. It wasn't just tapping. It was Leo Valdez, of course it wouldn't be as simple as an annoying tick.  
Frank didn't think there had been any particular rhythm before, maybe a few repeated sounds, but overall nothing stood out. It hadn't seemed to be musical, which had been his first guess.  
Now, Frank realized. It was Morse code. Frank, however, did not know any Morse code, apart from SOS.   
What was Valdez saying? Did Frank really want to know?  
  
… Yes, he did. Hopefully the library would have a few books.   
  
“Where did you see the ghost, Jackson?” Valdez asked, unaware of Frank's breakthrough in all things Leo Valdez.   
  
“Uh, I think near the hallway to N14 Yard.”   
  
“I saw him in that area too,” Valdez said with a smile like he had just explained everything. Percy didn't seem to have caught up yet though, and furrowed his brows.  
  
“So, what does that mean? Popping up again and again in the same area seems kind of ghost-y to me.”  
  
“It means,” Jason began, nodding to Valdez, “whatever or _who_ ever they're investigating is in that Yard.”   
  
Instantly Percy's expression turned dark.   
  
“Luke,” he hissed.   
  
Jason nodded, “seems likely.”   
  
“Luke?” Frank asked, but he wasn't alone, Valdez didn't seem to recognize the name either.  
  
“Luke Castellan,” Percy started, “he's a few years older than us. There have been more than a few attempted escapes that he started. He didn't join any of them, which is how he got off the hook and didn't get sent to Maximum security.”  
  
“He's got an almost cult like following. They believe they're better than other people, they think they're basically supernatural. Castellan will take an interest in someone, take them under his wing. Usually a new kid, more likely to cave to the pressure of needing to belong.” Jason explained, a dark look in his eyes.  
  
Frank looked towards Valdez, who at the same time glanced towards Frank.   
  
“So, the question is...is ghost boy working for... or against him?” Valdez asked.   
  
Frank felt like that particular answer wouldn't be so easy to come by.   
  
\---  
  
That night, after dinner came a free period. Most people used it for religious services, therapy sessions, or reading and relaxing. Leo decided on following Frank, although he was tempted to talk to Jackson and Jason more about their possible intruder problem.   
Frank, it became fairly apparent, was going to the library. He'd done it a few times before, but Leo never bothered on taking the time to bug him there. He figured Frank needed some time to unwind, otherwise he might actually put a fist through Leo's nose and out the back of his skull. Leo was proud of his ability to annoy, but even he had to admit, it wasn't the safest thing to do in prison.  
  
Leo stayed back aways, so Frank didn't notice he was being trailed, even waiting a minute to enter the library.   
He found the big guy in the language section, which was more like part of a bookshelf because it wasn't as though a prison had a great many deal of books. Leo watched as Frank grabbed one, and then walked over to a few circular tables.   
  
When he flopped down next to Frank, batting his eyelashes, he got the desired effect.   
  
“What'cha readin' buddy?” Leo drew out, smiling sweetly. Frank stared, before looking aggravated and shutting his book.  
  
“Not your buddy. Nothing. I'm, now, not reading anything. Happy?”  
  
“Rarely,” Leo chirped, before leaning over to get a good look at the title.   
  
“Morse code...,” Leo trailed off, looking up to meet Frank's eyes.   
Very perceptive, Zhang, Leo though to himself.   
  
“So, you noticed.”  
  
“Yes,” Frank grumbled.  
  
“But, you don't know what I'm saying.” Leo wasn't asking, he was stating. It was obvious. Frank flinched slightly, but didn't deny it.  
  
“I know three languages fluently. Shoot me for not knowing Morse.” Leo smiled.  
  
“I know three too. One happens to be Morse.” Frank sent him a side eyed expression of doubt.  
  
“I wouldn't call your English fluent.”  
  
“Suck a dick. You understood that right?”   
  
Frank didn't react, “why Morse?”  
  
“Why not?”  
  
“I'll find out what you're tapping,” Frank threatened.   
  
“I'll burn the books,” Leo leaned back in his chair, tapping slowly on his thigh in a way that made Frank's eye twitch just a bit.   
  
“Go ahead,” Frank huffed, standing up to leave.  
  
“Oy,” Leo pouted, “you're not giving up so easily, are you?”  
  
Frank chuckled, which was a little scary actually.   
  
“No.”  
  
He left, and Leo was left mildly concerned. Moving to follow Frank out, their free period would be ending soon anyway, Leo walked out the door and immediately into someone he hadn't seen before.   
  
“Woah, hey there. Watch out, not everyone in this place is so nice.” Leo looked up at the person, brushing himself off. Just for a moment he thought it was Jason, but upon further inspection this guy seemed to be a bit older, taller..a bit thinner, his hair was a bit lighter and styled differently.   
They both had scars though, Leo noted with some interest.  
  
“Hey,” the guy said with a small twitch of the lips, “you're Valdez right?”  
  
“Who wants to know?” Leo shot back, thinking of his little encounter the previous day.  
  
“Well, I guess I do. I heard about those guys attacking you through the grapevine, so to speak, I'm in a different Yard. It sounded completely ridiculous to me, that everyone was acting like you were the big bad there. I knew those guys, of those guys. Sharks, totally. I got a buddy, Rodriguez, Trituradora tried to have him offed too when he didn't join them.”  
The other blond smiled friendly enough, and seemed like a good enough guy.   
  
_Seemed_ to be, Leo thought. He knew a lot about masks.  
  
“Yeah, well, I think they'll stay away from me now.” Leo shrugged a shoulder, crossing his arms to let the guy know he wasn't interested in a long chat.   
  
The other man hummed, nodding his head a few times, “I'm impressed.”  
  
Leo shot him a curious look, and the man continued, smirking.   
  
“Well, fire right? You burned them? Very impressive. Hard to pull off, I'd imagine. Seems like it would be ...nearly impossible.”  
  
“I'm all about the impossible,” Leo said with no steam to it. He had no intentions of being buddy buddy with random man.   
  
The guy chuckled, resting on hand on his hip, “you're not the only one. Trust me on that.”  
  
“..How exactly do you mean?” Leo's eyes narrowed accusingly.  
  
“Prisons,” the man began, voice quiet like he was admitting a secret, “are _full_ of people like us. Some don't even know it, probably died never knowing.”  
  
Leo was beginning to get a bad case of heebiejeebies around this dude.   
  
“But us?” he continued, happy pretenses gone. “We're different. I think you know what I mean, too.”  
  
“Pretty sure I don't, guy.” Leo shook his head, taking a step backwards. At that, the man straightened himself and held his hands up.  
  
“I'm not trying to freak you out, just wanted to lend a helping hand. Or, just a bit of advice. You're not the only person who can do seemingly impossible things.”  
  
Leo jerked back slightly, looking to the floor.  
  
“Just think about it, and if you ever need to talk, come on over to N14 Yard. Oh, and...maybe check out a book on Greek Mythology.”  
  
Leo squinted, “Greek my- wait, did you say N14?”  
  
“Yup,” the man nodded, “the name is Luke Castellan. I'll talk to you later, Valdez.”  
  
The infamous Luke Castellan, who had as impeccable a timing as the ghost guy, began to walk away, heading down the staircase. But at the last minute he turned back up to meet Leo's eyes.  
  
“And, remember, you're not the only person here with a bad reputation. Not everything you hear is the full story.”  
  
As Castellan finally left, Leo exhaled loudly, feeling his knees shake. He had no idea what to do. Was Castellan as big of a freak as he seemed? Or, were Jackson and Jason Grace hiding something? And, about the ghost, if he was investigating Castellan for whatever reason, why?  
And, on top of it, Leo wasn't certain where he stood with Frank either.   
  
“Fuck my life,” Leo complained, taking his time walking back to his cell.  
  
And then someone grabbed him from behind and dragged him under the darkened staircase.  
  
Leo's eyes went wide, and he felt his fingers beginning to light.  
  
“Calm yourself,” a voice hissed lowly into his ear that absolutely did nothing to calm him.  
  
“Let,” Leo tugged to get his arm free, “me _go_!”  
  
They complied, and Leo turned around to meet dark eyes.   
  
“Holy fuck. _Holy f_ -,”   
  
“Shut up,” Ghost kid hissed again. Seeming a lot less like a ghost.   
  
“Literally who the fuck are you, man?!” Leo squeaked, before noticing there were weird shadows playing off of the other's face. For a moment Leo thought he had lit himself again, and was letting of light to cause it. But, no, it seemed to be coming from the kid. Extra creepy.  
  
“What did Castellan say to you?” Ghost kid asked, ignoring Leo's question entirely.   
  
“He said, 'hey, watch out for that freaky guy at the bottom of the stairs'!”   
  
The kid rolled his eyes, “this is important.”  
  
“It's important for me to find out if you're fucking...Freddy Kreuger or some shit!” Leo sniped back, only to get the guy hissing at him to stay quiet.  
  
“My name is Nico. I'm not a ghost. I am not a monster. I'd love to get you guys out of here, but I can't. I don't have the power or the authority to make that call. Castellan is plotting, and gathering people, until we work out what is goal or next target is. I can't do anything.” Ghost...Nico, spoke like it was written on a card somewhere, looking slightly conflicted about the issue.   
  
“You do an amazing job saying a lot, while making zero sense.” Leo drawled slowly, which had Nico sniff dismissively and leaning back.  
  
“I'd say the same about you, Valdez. What I can say is, you have powers...and you're not the only one.”  
  
Leo paused, raising an eyebrow, “Castellan ..I'm guessing?”   
  
Nico nodded, “him and others.”  
  
“Jackson and Grace?” Leo realized after a moment. Nico paused, like he was debating if it was information he could share with Leo or not.  
  
“Grace, yes. Jackson, I'm not sure. I think so, he's definitely got the record to go with it. Zhang is in the possible category too.”   
  
“Frank?” Leo asked, honestly shocked. Nico nodded. “He supposedly brought down a building by himself. Kind of a tip off something wasn't normal.”  
  
“And you know I am, because....you've seen me use the fire I'm guessing?” Nico nodded again.   
  
“So, what are we? Mutants? Aliens? Did our moms all take the same kind of birth control that caused superpower abilities in us?”  
  
“We're not the X-Men,” Nico said flatly. “I can't tell you right now, it would take too long. There's too much involved. But, trust me, the time will come.”  
  
“Castellan told me to trust him too,” Leo stated, looking Nico in the eye. “So, who do I trust?”  
  
“Yourself,” Nico responded after a moment. “Luke has killed and gotten people killed. People who would have called him a friend. Ask yourself, what kind of person is he, and what kind of person are you?”  
  
“I'm not a killer,” Leo whispered, not entirely convinced of his own words. He didn't _want_ to kill anyone.   
  
“I wouldn't be speaking to you if you were. So, tell me, what did Luke want with you?”  
  
“I'm guessing you already know that, he wanted me to..join him, I guess.”  
  
Nico stepped back, looking like he expected the answer.   
  
“I figured as much, yes, but don't underestimate him. There have been inmates here who have ended up dead, due to objecting Luke. You _don't_ want to join him, but don't be stupid about it either.”  
  
Leo sighed, “I get it. Can I go to my room now, Too Spooky? It's been a long day.”   
  
Long day, long week, long life...  
  
“Did you just call me Too Spooky?” Nico pursed his lips, but there was something in his expression that seemed like maybe he was a little amused.   
  
“No?” Leo smiled, and scarily was met with a smile on Nico's face.  
  
“Go ahead, Valdez.”   
  
Leo took it to mean he could leave, rather than continue to call the other boy names.  
  
  
\---   
  
  
Frank was having a hard time falling to sleep. It wouldn't have been a problem if Valdez wasn't keeping him up, tossing and turning in the bunk above him. It had been a good hour of squeak, thunk, grumble.  
  
“ _Valdez_ ,” Frank warned for the 5th time, “shut up before I smuther you.”  
  
Valdez stopped moving for a moment, before his curly head of hair popped over the side of his bunk, looking down at Frank.  
  
“I can't sleep. Sing me a song?”  
  
“I'd rather kill us both,” Frank turned on his side to stare at the wall and _not_ Valdez.  
  
“Tell me a story?”  
  
“There once was a hyperactive sparrow. It was eaten by an eagle. The end.”  
  
Frank could hear the frown in Valdez' voice, “that was pretty dark, man.”  
  
“Fine. Once upon a time, you shut up and I slept well. God bless us, every one.”  
  
Valdez snickered, “you're actually funny sometimes.”  
  
Frank groaned, wrapping the uncomfortable pillow around his head, “ _you're_ not.”  
  
Silence came, but it only lasted a few minutes.   
  
“Hey, Frank?”  
  
Nope, Frank thought, steadfastly ignoring him. Hoping that Valdez would assume he couldn't hear him through the pillow. He could of course, their pillows were like paper.   
  
“Do you mind if I jerk off?”  
  
Frank sat up instantly, “yes I mind! I mind very much. What is wrong with you?!”   
  
Valdez's head was still lolled off the side of the bunk, “I can't _sleeeep_. It helps.”  
  
“Couldn't you have done it elsewhere?” Valdez laughed at that.  
  
“What, in the shower? With 10 other guys? Yeah, that wouldn't be weird.”  
  
“It's weird here too!” Frank hissed.   
  
“Weird _er_ ,” Valdez corrected. “I'm gunna do it.”  
  
“Do not.”  
  
“Doing.”  
  
Frank groaned loudly, muttering in Chinese and more specific insults in French, trying once again to wrap the pillow around his ears.   
He missed sex, sure, but this wasn't really what he would have hoped for.  
  
The bed creaked a few times in a way that made him grit his teeth, but soon it stopped and Frank welcomed the quiet.   
  
“Frank.”  
  
“Oh, for the love of- what? Do you need someone to walk you through it? Dick, hand. There.”  
  
There was a loud dramatic sigh, like Frank was the one bothering Valdez.   
“I think I'm too stressed out. I can't get my mind off of stuff. Help?”  
  
Frank snarled, swinging out of bed, and standing to look at Valdez who looked more than a bit startled.  
  
“You want _help_?”  
  
“Um,” Valdez glanced around the room.   
  
“You want help? Pull down the blankets, _Leo_.” Frank was trying to call Valdez on his bluff. The kid played tough, but when faced when an actual challenge he'd crumble. Or so, that's what Frank was counting on.   
Valdez' expression cleared somewhat, and he tilt his head like Frank was a fascinating puzzle.   
He picked up on the challenge. Their little game of chicken.   
  
“Do it for me,” Valdez said lowly, eyes hooded.  
  
Frank realized his mistake all too late. You don't play games with someone like Valdez. They're operating on an entirely different manual.   
  
He took a step forward, and a smirk curled over Valdez's lips. So Frank stuck his hand under the blankets and grabbed.  
It was still through a layer of boxers, though the bottom half of his jumper was undone. Frank briefly wondered if it would be like touching himself, but that thought went out the window.   
It was a completely different experience. Seeing the teasing look vanish from the other boys face, to be replaced with big eyes and an open mouth. Valdez gave out a shakey gasp, craning his head back into the pillow below him. His back arched just so, in a way that Frank really shouldn't have found as attractive as he did.   
He had crossed a line, a big one, one that he couldn't uncross. So, the only choice was to go forward. ..Right?  
  
“You want it?” Frank asked, voice deep in his chest. Valdez bit his lip, nodding after a moment.   
  
He slid his hand slowly up, until he felt the elastic of the other boy's boxers. Slipping a few fingers below the band earned Frank a hitched breath from Valdez, and he decided he wanted to hear more of that.  
Pushing down, finally his hand wrapped around uncovered hot skin. It was definitely firm, harder than he had been a second ago, but the skin itself was velvety in a way Frank never took the time to think about when it concerned his own member.   
Valdez whined, which made Frank glance up. Brown eyes were closed shut, mouth alternating between open gasps and lip biting.   
  
When his thumb brushed against the leaking tip, Valdez began cursing.  
  
“Do you want me to stop?” Frank asked lowly, and was met with a glare.  
  
“Do not,” Valdez warned, bucking his hips up into Frank's hand.   
  
Frank chuckled, but continued anyway. His motions were slow and deliberate, firmly grasping the shaft but using a lighter touch towards the head.   
When Valdez' whimpers got louder, and his back arched higher, and his cursing became remarkably more Spanish than English, Frank realized the boy was almost there.   
  
“A-ah, fuck, Frank!” Valdez yelped, toes curling, and heat hitting Frank's palm.   
  
Frank pulled back, watching for just a moment as Valdez's orgasm faded. He glanced towards the few white ropes of cum on his hands, and had no idea how to feel about it.   
There was a sink in the corner, and while Frank kind of wanted a shower, it would have to do.  
  
Then, he said nothing, and went back to his bunk to lay down. Hopefully sleep would follow, but now Frank thought _he'd_ be the one to have too much on his mind to rest peaceably.   
It was quiet for a moment, apart from the faint hint of panting coming from the bed above his.  
  
Then a creak, followed by Valdez' face popping over the side once more. Frank squeezed his eyes shut.  
  
“Hey, Frank?”  
  
Frank was actually going to kill him.  
  
“D'you...want me to return the favor?”   
  
Frank's eyes opened. Valdez smiled.   
  
He had no idea who won, in the end. Maybe both of them.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey kids, don't touch anyone without their permission first.   
> Also, don't go to prison, I've heard the soap is terrible. Very drying on the skin.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn't my favorite chapter, but I think the next chapter should be really the start of more serious events.   
> (such as sexual situations, because I know what the people want. I don't know how to deliver it well, but, there you go.)

  
  
  
_“Frank,”_ just Hazel's voice alone, coming through the telephone, reminded Frank of all the best times they had spent together.  
  
He really, _truly_ , loved her.   
When times were tough, they had had each other. Together they could keep the loneliness of years removed from society away.  
So he'd ignore the nagging guilt in the back of his mind for as long as possible

“Hazel,” he responded fondly, wishing he could see her that minute.  
  
 _“Are you okay?”_ She asked, pleaded.   
  
“I'm fine, for what it is.” As fine as he could be here.   
  
“ _I wish I could see you again_ ,” Hazel said softly.   
  
She wasn't stupid enough to ask when he'd be getting out, because his plan was definitely not legal, and the prison was definitely monitoring their calls.   
Even when they were both free, they avoided phone usage as much as possible, it seemed to call more beasts to them. They ended up with a healthy suspicion when it came to a good portion of electronics.  
  
“Me too, but I have to admit this place has kept me pretty busy.” Frank said, hoping she'd catch onto his meaning. He couldn't escape so easily with so many eyes following him.   
  
“ _Are there a lot of people_?” She asked, and Frank found himself closing his eyes so he could picture her face.  
  
“No, not too many. It isn't super crowded. It's big though...There's a lot of room.”  
  
The prison he was at was, Frank's best guess was Medium security jail. Low security prisons were more likely to be full, with plenty of people who had committed petty crimes. This prison seemed to be an interesting mix of individuals who had no serious records, but crimes which demanded a closer eye.   
  
_“Do you have a...ah, what are they, cellmate?”_ Frank grimaced slightly, his mental picture of Hazel standing with him was now joined by a mental image of one Leo Valdez.   
  
While Frank had a number of fears living the life he did, at the moment, the idea of Valdez anywhere near Hazel was enough to make his skin crawl. The worst part was he didn't know why, was it that Valdez was unpredictable at the best of times, or was it because of the truths he could speak about Frank.   
It wasn't something they were talking about, but they had found themselves with a new nightly ritual that involved a lot of panting and bodily fluids. They hadn't moved past handjobs, and Frank wasn't sure if he was hoping they would or wouldn't.   
  
“Yeah, uh, I do. I didn't at first, but things changed..Valdez, is his name. He's, uh. Interesting to say the least.”  
  
 _“Valdez?”_ Hazel repeated, and Frank could almost hear the frown in her voice. Something had caught her interest. He had known her for nearly a decade, he could read her moods, but ...he was getting the feeling there was something she hadn't told him.  
  
“Do you know him?” Frank questioned, hoping to God she didn't.  
  
 _“Uh, no. I mean, I knew a Valdez, but that was...back in New Orleans.”_   
  
In the 1940's she meant, and Frank sighed with relief. Definitely not _Leo_ Valdez then.  
  
“I don't think it's too uncommon a family name,” Frank said simply, and she made a noise of agreement but still sounded a bit distant.  
  
“Have you had any trouble by yourself?” He asked her, and was met by silence, and then a laugh.   
  
_“Sorry, I just shook my head and completely forgot you couldn't see me. Gosh, that was silly. No, I haven't had any problems.”_ Frank found himself laughing, and it felt like it had been years.  
  
 _“What's life like..in there?”_ Hazel asked after a short lull.   
  
“It's a lot like a really awful summer camp. Without the view. You don't really get along with anyone very well, but you get pulled into the drama anyway.”   
  
_“There's been drama?”_ Hazel questioned, worried.   
  
“Sort of,” Frank shifted to get a better spot in the phone booth. “My, uh, cellmate was targeted by two gangs. I think it's all settled though.”   
  
Hazel was silent which wasn't a good sign.   
  
“It's fine, Hazel.”  
  
 _“They're not going to come after you now, are they?”_ Her voice was cold, and it told him she was prepared to do something if his answer was anything less than absolutely not.   
  
“No, it was taken care of. It's just Prison politics, Valdez stepped on a few toes, they got their feathers ruffled.”  
  
 _“What'd he do? Is he alright? Is he nice?”_ Frank's lips twitched upwards, she was so cute.   
She didn't even know the guy, and she was worried about him. She'd probably still be worried about him even if she did know him, because Hazel was just that kind of person.  
  
“Well, I don't know all the details...all I know is one guy ended up..injured.” Frank decided to leave out the mentions of fire and burnings, for fear of her bringing up his own piece of firewood.  
  
Continuing, “Valdez claimed it was self defense. Some people believe him, others don't. One of the gang members had been Valdez' cellmate, and tried to strike back in retaliation, ended up down for the count too. A week or so ago, that gang got another gang involved, and they cornered Valdez. Valdez was fine, they seemed spooked and haven't gone near him since. So, yeah. He's fine.”  
  
 _“Oh,”_ Hazel said, surprise in her voice. _“Is he a big man? Valdez?”_  
  
Frank laughed, “no, definitely not. But he's smart. Crafty.”  
  
The guard outside knocked on the booth and held up the 5 minute warning sign.   
  
“There's a few other people here that aren't too bad. Two cell mates, Percy Jackson and a Jason Grace are both pretty good people as far as I can tell. I think you'd get along with Percy well, though he _does_ think the prison is haunted.”  
  
 _“Haunted?”_ Hazel's interest was clear. _“How so?”_  
  
“Mysterious figure lurking about the hallways and the grounds. Seems to take an interest in one hall in particular, the one to N14 Yard.”  
  
 _“That's interesting. Maybe I'll look up the history of the place, find out if there are any other ghost stories.”_  
  
Frank smiled, he didn't think anyone listening would pick up on any hidden meanings in their conversation. It sounded like just your general run of the mill going's on.   
But, they didn't know Frank and Hazel.   
Inviting Hazel to research the place, wasn't about their supposed ghost, though it might help to turn up some more information of Luke Castellan and anything insidious going on there.   
Valdez said he had been approached, and given Castellan's reputation, it could mean none of them were safe.   
But, over all, it gave Hazel the chance to find the layouts of the prison. The general area, he assumed she had already been scoping out. If he was going to escape, even if he could shape shift, they needed to get out of the area quickly and go as unnoticed for as long as humanly possible.   
  
“I've got to go in a minute, Hazel. I'll talk to you next week, okay?” Hazel sighed sadly.  
  
 _“Alright, I miss you. I love you, stay safe.”_  
  
“I will. Same to you, you know. I miss you, and I can't wait to see you again..I love you, but I promise we'll talk again sooner than you realize.”  
  
After the call ended, and Frank reluctantly hung up the telephone, he made his way back to his cell silently. He had used up most of a free period, not that he regretted the chance to talk to Hazel in the least.  
  
Walking in, he saw Valdez lounging on Frank's cot of their bunk beds. He was flipping through a book, that looked like it had something to do with Mythology.  
Brown eyes glanced over the top of the book, and even though Frank couldn't see his mouth, he could tell Valdez was smiling. His eyes were like dark half moons, that may have been cute if it was anyone else.   
  
“Have a nice chat?” He asked, but Frank didn't respond, simply walking over to grab the book and toss it to the other side of the room. Valdez' eyes followed the book as it landed, then slowly panned back over to Frank.   
Definitely smiling.  
  
“Need help with something?” Valdez asked, voice rougher than it had been a moment ago, but Frank wouldn't speak. Just unzipped his pants, and Valdez got with the program rather enthusiastically quickly.  
  
\---   
  
They were out in the yard today. Not _the_ Yard, as in the area of the prison they were in, but a wide open area that looked a little bit like an elementary school recess yard. ..But with more barbed wire, of course.   
  
Leo had always liked guys as well as girls. He liked hero type guys, with the rugged good looks and charm that'd make you drop your panties regardless of owning any.   
...But in prison, you see a lot of young guys who are in pretty good shape. Seeing shirts or more off wasn't an unusual sight..and yet Leo wasn't that thrilled.   
Who knew he had standards?  
  
Leo glanced at Jason, who was definitely attractive, in a ..weirdly bookish rugged way.   
But, Leo was more into dark hair and eyes.   
Glancing to his other side, where Percy stood, Leo frowned. They got along better than they had at first, and the guy was attractive...but it didn't do much for Leo.   
  
Then there was Frank.   
  
Their little new found ritual had continued on nearly nightly. Sometimes more than once. Sometimes not just during the night.   
Leo was more likely to be the one to suggest it, because getting Frank off was a bigger turn on for him than simply just Frank reciprocating. Not that he was against the reciprocating, definitely not against that.   
  
Admittedly, there was a level of control involved.   
  
Leo never had much control over his own life, and he tried to be okay with that, but it gnawed at the back of his mind like a rabid dog. Now, he was in prison, which basically existed to remove control from people, usually with some good reason.   
Being able to make someone like Frank Zhang, someone nearly three times his size, pant and crumble in his hands? It was a bit of control that Leo needed.  
  
But..he wanted more than that. More than just what they were.   
  
Leo had to go and ruin perfectly good no strings attached lust with emotions.   
  
Leo found himself chewing on his fingernails, focused on Frank like a hawk.   
Frank, of course, didn't bother looking at Leo. He was focused on the boxing sandbag in front of him, delivering a hit so strong it nearly hit the bag off the hook. The other man was undeniably strong, but generally honorable, it was still a mystery to Leo as to how Frank found himself in prison. Leo knew the supposed reason, but it sounded wrong.   
There was more to the story, and Leo wanted to know every word.  
  
He wondered briefly, what Frank thought of him.   
Well, Leo knew Frank wasn't hugely fond of him, but did he actually find Leo attractive or was it purely just about having means to an end.   
...Probably that one, but no one could stop Leo from fantasizing.  
  
“I like girls, you know,” Leo found himself sighing out loud. He wasn't really talking to anyone, but Jason was sitting at the same table in the shade and looked up. 

Then Jason looked between Frank and Leo. Jason wasn't stupid, but not intrusive either, which was one reason Leo liked him better than Percy.   
  
“Okay....,” Jason said slowly. “I don't really care what your preference is.”

“It's both. All? Is there a word for that. Hot. Hot is my taste.” Leo grumbled. Jason continued to look like he didn't care.   
  
“Just...be safe, alright?” Jason mumbled, looking back down towards his book. Leo was honestly puzzled. They were in prison, what kind of safe did Jason think was feasible?  
  
“Safe?”  
  
“Lube. Condoms. Knowing it's alright to say 'no', that sort of safe.” Jason explained, and Leo's eyebrows went up into his bangs. Jason was giving him the big brother _talk_.  
  
“Woah, man. We're definitely not doing anything that'd require ... _that_.” Leo fanned himself, mostly as a joke, but his ears were actually turning a bit hot.   
They hadn't even kissed. Not that Leo was shocked by that. What they did was a far step removed from romance.  
  
“If it ever does move in that direction, just...well, you know,” Jason shrugged. Leo paused, glancing towards Frank.  
  
“How did you figure it out, anyway?”   
  
Jason laughed, blue eyes brighter in the natural light outside regardless of being in the shade..which was a bit strange.  
  
“Seriously? You asked him to ' _escort_ ' you to the bathroom yesterday. I think everyone knows.”  
  
Leo shrugged, “I was attacked recently, as you well know. Maybe I just wanted a bodyguard. Bathroom buddy.”   
  
“Whatever you say, Leo.” Jason smiled, going back to his book.   
  
“He has a girlfriend, you know,” Leo added after a moment. Jason's smile faded slowly, as he glanced over the rims of his glasses.   
  
“I think you both know it can't end well between you. Not here, not now.”   
  
Leo glanced towards Frank again, who was brushing sweat off of his forehead with the back of his hand.   
  
“Yeah, I know. But, things never work out that well for me anyway. Might as well accept my fate, lean back and take it...metaphorically speaking.”  
  
“I think you deserve better than what you think you do, Leo. But, I'm not going to tell you how to live your life either... but, if you need a friend, I'm here for you.”  
  
Leo didn't bother saying anything back to Jason. He liked Jason, really.  
But, Jason might not have been so eager to be friends if he knew all of Leo's past.   
  
\---   
  
After Valdez' run in with the _Trituradora_ , Frank had the great pleasure of being able to guarantee his work station would be in the same room as his cellmates. Thankfully, most of the time Valdez was fairly quiet and did his job.   
Maybe it was due to their little arrangement. Valdez seemed, in the last week, to be more relaxed and less focused in his apparent dire need to annoy the hell out of Frank. He seemed less antsy to pick fights.   
  
“You know, Jason thinks we're having sex.”  
  
..Unless he got bored.  
  
“Did you correct him?” Frank sighed, not bothering to look at Valdez. He didn't count on Valdez correcting Jason, hell, if anything he'd be more likely to tell him they were going to elope.   
  
“I kind of had to, he was offering condoms and lubricant.” Valdez chuckled, but his busy hands didn't seem to stop working as they continued to package the products they made coming off the conveyor.   
  
Frank frowned at the comment, while he couldn't say he entirely cared about the opinion of his fellow inmates, he was wondering how far spread the rumor was. Or, maybe how far spread the truth was. Even if they weren't exactly having sex, it'd be idiotic to say it wasn't sexual.   
  
“It does raise a question though...,” Valdez began, in the tone of voice that let Frank know the rest of his day would be anything but peaceful.   
  
“Are we ever going to?”  
  
Frank froze, fingers ghosting over the conveyor belt.  
“What?”  
  
“Are we going to go all the way? Is this just...friends helping out friends?”  
  
“We're not friends. And, you haven't had many if you think that's what friends do.” Frank was on the defensive, he could hear the tone in his own voice but couldn't stop it.   
  
Valdez snorted in derision.   
  
“Well, you're not wrong. Still man, I've got a right to know your intentions regarding my body.”   
  
Frank groaned, “don't say it like that. Don't say, 'your body' either. God, that's creepy.”  
  
The was another inmate, a worked a few feet down the line who was within earshot, who began to slowly inch away.   
  
“Is, 'my hot bod' better?”  
  
“I've realized my mistake,” Frank rolled his eyes, trying not to smile. This was definitely not the time.  
  
“Frank, seriously. I'm not opposed, but if you ever want to do more than what we're doing I need a heads up.” Valdez glanced towards him, and Frank could tell at least this time it wasn't a joke.   
  
Realistically, Frank shouldn't have been surprised..they hadn't really set any actual boundaries. They hadn't talked about it, not really.   
It wasn't something he had thought about, but it occurred to Frank that it was possible Valdez was...worried. And maybe for good reason. The rumors of rape in prison weren't something anyone took lightly. Frank himself was a big guy, he was strong, and had years of combat training. Valdez was not any of those things.   
  
Frank didn't like to think about what they did. He didn't like to acknowledge to himself that he had already betrayed a part of Hazel's trust. He, in all honesty, was sometimes horrified of what he did..some of his thoughts about Valdez. But, as far as his dislike went, Frank couldn't deny a deep sense of pleasure those nights when Valdez leaned his head against Frank's shoulder, breathing hard, as Frank brought him to completion or vice versa.   
The idea Valdez might actually feel threatened by Frank, that he even considered the possibility that Frank could use force on him...Frank hated the thought.  
He owed him the truth.  
  
“I don't know,” Frank admitted.   
  
“I can't say I've thought about...going further than what has already happened. We shouldn't be doing anything, really. I shouldn't have acted in the first place...but I did. _Lord_ knows you were..are an annoying shit, but I made the decision to go along with it. I didn't have to do anything that night, but I did.”   
  
These were the thoughts that plagued Frank, the ones where he knew he had made a conscious decision, one that betrayed the trust of the person he loved most.   
  
“We shouldn't. This shouldn't go on any more than it has. But, it shouldn't have started either, and yet I started it.”   
  
Valdez was silent, which Frank was happy for. It wasn't a judgmental silence. Valdez didn't appear to be gearing up to rag on him. He was just listening.  
  
“But, what...I can say for certain, whatever little I know of myself with no doubts.. Is...if we did. _If_ we did. If you wanted to, and I wanted to..if it was something we agreed on...I wouldn't ever force anything. Even now, with what we do. I'll stop if you tell me to, I'll stop if you say no, or no more. If you say never again, I'll never touch you again.”  
  
Frank looked to meet Valdez' eyes, “I might not like you very much, but you as much as anyone else deserve that promise.”  
  
Valdez began to tap his fingers, in a slower way that Frank had taken to mean he was thinking.   
  
Frank, much to his chagrin, had yet been able to get an answer out of Jason. Jason knew, he even admitted as much, but his only reply was that it wasn't his place to say. Frank hadn't yet lost hope, as far as he could tell, Valdez hadn't destroyed the books in the library on Morse, but it was a matter of getting to the library without Valdez finding out.   
  
“You're a good guy, Frank. I'm afraid I might have ruined your life.” Valdez said suddenly, voice low and even, in such a way it surprised Frank from his thoughts.  
  
Frank blinked, “what do you mean by that?”  
  
“I have no intention of stopping what we're doing, and I'm pretty sure you know that. But, the difference is, between you and me... You're going to tell your girlfriend after you get out, right?” Valdez looked away, returning to packaging products coming off the line. Frank didn't deny his statement.   
  
“You're that type of person, honest. We both know it won't end well, will it? But, see, I don't have anyone, I can't hurt anyone I care about ..not anymore. Carrying on, it won't hurt me, but it'll hurt you.”   
Frank didn't deny it, any of it, he just bit his lip and went back to work. Valdez..was probably right. But, there was something there..that got him thinking.  
  
“You do,” Frank said, which got Valdez to glance up at him again curiously.  
  
“You do have people you care about. Jason is your friend. Percy is trying to be. You ..said you can't hurt anyone you care about, but you still feel guilt over my and my girlfriend's relationship. So, maybe, I'm someone you care about too.”  
  
Valdez' jaw clenched, and he said nothing more to Frank that day.  
  
  
\---   
  
Leo hadn't slept, not really, maybe he drifted in an out from time to time.   
  
His control had been lost.   
  
Frank had thrown him for enough of a loop, that Leo found himself unable to focus.   
  
More than anything now he wanted to tinker, to build, to fix, to take apart. But, Leo couldn't. Not here. Being removed from one of his forms of catharsis was beginning to weigh on him.   
He had no outlet, outside of Frank..and now Frank had the upper hand.   
  
The stress was getting to him. Prison was getting to him.   
  
His breaths grew shorter, as Leo stared at the cement slab ceiling above his bunk. He needed to get out. He needed to get away.   
  
“No,” Leo whispered to the dark. The itch, a growing pressure was boiling below his skin.   
  
“ _No_ ,” he said a last time, bringing his arms up to his chest and clenching them tightly.  
  
Leo glanced down, his fingers were beginning to glow and flicker. The colors rolled like a roaring fire, just below the surface.  
Just briefly, Leo saw a small wave of fire dance across the backs of his knuckles.  
  
He couldn't, not here, he'd hurt someone. He'd hurt Frank.   
  
This curse, this disease. Leo didn't even know if he was human.   
  
“Hey,” a voice came from the lower bunk, and Leo froze.  
  
“Are you awake, or are you having a nightmare?” Franks voice asked softly, surrounded by the silence of the rest of the facility.   
  
Leo didn't say anything for a moment, taking a few deep breaths and watching the glow die down on his hands.   
  
“I-..I had a nightmare,” he replied, not knowing if Frank was even still listening. He was.  
  
“....Do you want to talk about it?” Frank didn't entirely sound like he was pleased with the idea at ..however early in the morning it was.   
  
Leo sat up, swinging his legs off the side and jumping down to the cold floor below. Frank had propped his head up on a pillow, watching him. Leo sat on the end of the bunk, and pulled up his feet crisscross to take up as little room as possible.   
  
“I don't want to talk about it,” he said simply, which made Frank sigh likely in annoyance.   
  
“But I don't want to be alone,” Leo whispered, lowering his head onto his arms. He heard Frank sit up more, feet next to Leo's legs moving.   
  
“You don't have to say what the dream was, but can you say why it scared you?” Frank asked, which made Leo pause before slowly nodding.  
  
“...Have you ever wondered if you were cursed?” Leo asked, and to his surprise Frank laughed.  
  
“A good portion of my life, yeah. But, the way I see it, focusing on it and obsessing only it gives it more power. Accepting that it exists, accepting what has been given to you..that's what you do. If you are cursed, that still can't be the entirety of your life. You're who you are without it, or with it. Focus on that, focus on what or who makes you happy. Because, if the curse if going to burn you away in the end anyway, then you might as well burn brightly.”   
  
Leo didn't know what to say. No one had really understood him, what it felt like. But maybe Frank did, maybe Frank had an idea of what it was like.   
Maybe that is what drew him to the other man in the first place.   
  
He moved, pushing forward until he was straddling Frank's legs. Frank looked a bit surprised at Leo's change in mood, but didn't make any moves to push him off.   
Leo leaned forward, resting his hands on Frank's shoulders, feeling as Frank began to freeze up at the proximity.  
  
“Can I do something for you, Frank?” Leo asked softly, barely audibly.  
  
“...Something different?” Frank questioned, swallowing hard.  
  
“Well, I'm not going to use my hands, if that's what you're asking.” Leo sent him a flirty grin, it was dark, but he trusted Frank could read his expression well enough.   
  
“...What then?” Frank murmured, but from his position, Leo could already feel him beginning to react.  
  
Leo licked his lips, which was answer enough for Frank. The other man leaned back more, putting his back against one of the bed beams, and moved to open the trousers of his jumper quickly.  
  
Leo tried to push back the giddy need to giggle, scooting backwards while still straddling Frank's legs. The other man, he was sure, could feel Leo's excitement as easily as Leo could see his straining through thin fabric.   
  
Yanking down the boxer band until Leo could see his prize, he leaned down to blow a breath lightly on the head. Frank's hand briefly grabbed the back of Leo's head, but his grip lightened up, though his hand seemed to be shaking just slightly.   
  
“Have you done this before?” Frank asked, but Leo didn't bother responding.  
  
He chose that moment to go down fully on the man, taking as much as he could before it hit the back of his throat. Humming happily as he heard Frank moan loudly, Leo pulled back just enough to make sure his tongue had room to work as well.   
Frank hadn't been completely erect at first, not that Leo had given him much time to react, but under his touch it was full.   
  
It was definitely a different experience than giving a hand job, Leo thought, feeling the weight on his tongue and the pulsing of the veins that ran along it. Frank was sized proportionately to the rest of his body, which meant there was no way Leo was getting all of the guys dick down his throat without gagging.   
Leo could feel Frank's hips struggling not to jerk forward into his mouth, which in the back of his mind Leo was thankful for. In the forefront of his mind though, was purely the feeling. The heat, the strain in his knees, the feeling of need growing in his own body. Leo could hear Frank's gaspy breaths above the slick and wet noises of bobbing and licking down the shaft.   
  
If asked, Leo wouldn't have been able to say how long it had lasted, he was as lost in the act as Frank was. The few jerks Frank gave, when he couldn't control himself were growing more frequent though. Leo hadn't even realized Frank's hand and found its way back into the curls on top Leo's head.   
  
“Fuck, I'm close..y-you need to pull back now,” Frank groaned, stuttering a few times. Leo pulled back with a lewd wet popping sound, looking up at Frank with eyes hooded by his own lust.  
  
“I don't mind, if you want it in my mouth, go ahead.” Leo's voice was rough enough he almost surprised himself.   
It seemed to surprise Frank more, who cursed under his breath, before the hand on his head guided Leo back down. Licking the leaking tip once, before bobbing a few more times was all it took. It was an odd feeling, cum hitting the back of his throat, but Leo decided not entirely unpleasant. The heat of it was lovely, the taste less so..but tolerable.   
  
The truth was, it was the first time Leo had done this. And, he was pretty sure it wasn't the first time Frank had had it done to him. So, he wasn't going to let his inexperience known. Not now.   
  
“Good?” Leo asked, watching as Frank came down from his high, breathing still quite uneven. Frank's eyes had been closed, leaning his head back, but he cracked an eye open to look at Leo.  
Leo wondered what he looked like, his lips felt swollen and still damp, and his dick still wanted attention.  
  
“Come here,” Frank growled, pulling Leo closer, and shoving his hand down the front of Leo's underwear.   
Leo laughed softly, before he couldn't hold back the moans. Resting his head on Frank's shoulder, Leo gave in, letting the pleasure rise above him. He kissed the side of Frank's throat, nipping gently, which seemed to encourage Frank's hand motions.   
  
It ended quickly, Leo had already been teetering at the edge even before Frank began to touch him. Leo relaxed against Frank, and they both began to slip down from their half upright position.   
Sleep finally found him.  
  
\---   
  
Frank woke up with Valdez still asleep, using Frank's shoulder as a pillow.   
  
Last night had been... _something_.  
  
Wonderful, terrible. Such sentiments seemed to be par the course for Valdez.   
  
It had been different than when Frank had been with Hazel. Both amazing, but Hazel was sweeter and slower and more studious. Valdez was... enthusiastic.  
Frank was fairly certain if it wasn't his first time, it still definitely wasn't something he did often. Valdez hadn't ever answered him, but Frank guessed between the two of them he had been the only one who had ever had a long term relationship. Valdez was a bit sloppy, but in a very.. _very_ enticing way.  
  
That didn't stop the guilt though.   
  
Valdez yawned, and stretched, peaking open an eye at Frank.   
  
“Morning,” he grinned. Frank ignored him and knocked the guy off, moving to stand up.  
  
“Do you regret it?” Valdez asked when Frank had his back to him.  
  
“I made my choice,” Frank answered. Of course he regretted it. He regretted ever getting involved. But he wasn't stopping either.   
  
“Do you?” Frank shot back, glancing over his shoulder.   
  
Valdez chuckled, “why would I? I made my choice as well.”  
  
“You made your choice in an emotionally fragile moment,” he responded.   
Frank hadn't wanted to take advantage of Valdez in any way, and part of his guilt was the possibility he let Valdez do something he might not have otherwise done.  
  
“I was stressed out over a nightmare, not being tortured, jeez. You're either too hard on yourself, or you highly underestimate me.” Valdez rolled his eyes, not bothering to stand up. It wasn't Light's Up time yet, it'd be probably another 30 minutes before their cells were opened.  
  
“..You're sure?” Frank asked again, getting the blankest stare he had ever seen in return.  
  
“Want me to do it again, so you can make sure I'm well within my faculties to make decisions for myself like a big boy?”  
  
“You're unbelievable.” Frank said flatly, but he was hiding the fact he...wasn't sure if he'd take Valdez up on the offer or not.  
  
“I didn't hear a yes or no,” Valdez said cheekily, voice almost sing song. “We've got some time to kill, don't we? I think you know I'm not going to leave you alone, so unless you want to have me be my general lovely self and talk to you nonstop for a half hour-”  
  
“Fine!” Frank cut him off, maybe he sounded upset, but he was cursing his own lack of self control rather than Valdez.  
  
Valdez patted the bed next to him, “then get over here. I don't want to fuck up my knees on the cement.”  
  
Frank walked over stiffly, pausing just as Valdez was leaning over to grab at the front of his pants.  
  
“I'm not going to reciprocate, you know that right?” Frank asked, causing Valdez to snort laugh. It was not the most attractive of laughs.  
  
“Didn't think you would. Now, shut up, I want to see if I can get your fly down with my teeth. They do that in porn all the time, it can't be that difficult right?”  
  
-  
  
Frank found himself far more relaxed the rest of the day, though it was a chore to ignore Valdez' not so hidden jokes. Jason and Percy seemed a bit uncomfortable, hell, their whole Yard seemed a bit ill at ease.   
But, Frank couldn't hugely bring himself to care. He was nearly humming while he worked, as cliché as it sounded. Sure, Valdez looked more pleased with himself than ever, but Frank would worry about that tomorrow.   
  
He felt great.   
  
Or, that was, he did until catching a glimpse of Luke Castellan speaking with one of the guards.   
  
Frank was on high alert in seconds, pushing himself into the dark around a corner. Jason and Valdez had pointed the infamous man out to Frank before, but he had only seen him at a distance.   
  
The guard, was a man named Colvin. He was older, more experienced, and was fairly respected by the inmates..as much as inmates would ever trust a prison guard. Frank had had no problems with the man up until that point.  
  
The ease in which he was speaking to Castellan could have been due to years on the job, but there was something about their posture that made the hairs on the back of Frank's neck stand up. Castellan seemed entirely too relaxed, and Colvin was holding some sort of envelope.   
When it was handed to Castellan, Frank realized the severity of their situation.   
  
Castellan took the time to flip through the envelope, grabbing a pen from Colvin and marking a sheet of paper a few times, before handing it back. Frank didn't have to hear them to see the shift in power.   
Castellan spoke, Colvin listened. Castellan was the one who had the real authority here.  
  
Which meant whatever was coming, was at least partially an inside job.   
  
Castellan left not long after, and was met by a few other inmates Frank had made himself familiar with. The only one that didn't sit right with Frank was an Ethan Nakamura, the rest didn't particularly seem like threats.   
  
“Zhang,” a voice spoke behind him, and whatever instincts Frank had to defend himself, he attempted to cull. If it was another guard, Frank wouldn't benefit from knocking them out.  
  
It wasn't another guard. It was a young man, of whom Frank had never met but seemed oddly familiar.   
  
“My name is Nico di Angelo. I think we need to talk.”  
  


 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who has commented and/or given Kudos. It's very much appreciated.
> 
> (again, if anyone needs to contact me, either messaging me on here or on my tumblr works. historicallyinnacurate.tumblr.com )


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You may have noticed I changed the summary slightly. It's not a drabble anymore, by any means, so it deserved a bit more put to it.
> 
> I probably could have put this up yesterday, but I felt like I hadn't written enough for this chapter, and then I looked back at how much I had actually written and I basically wrote enough for this chapter and a half. 
> 
> So for now....Enjoy the calm before the storm.

  
  
  
It wasn't just Frank that Di Angelo wanted to speak to, and called to have both Valdez and Jason meet them in a larger usually locked storage room down the east hallway that branched off towards N12 Yard and C17 Yard. Frank had yet to figure out the numbering system in this place.   
  
Valdez initially got the wrong idea about why he was being brought to a secluded closet, looking quite displeased the second he saw Di Angelo there as well.   
  
“ _Not_ the kind of threesome I was hoping for,” he muttered, turning his attention towards the stock lined walls.  
  
“I brought Percy. I think he deserves to know.” Was the first thing Jason said walking into the small storage room they were all in, directing the comment more at Di Angelo.   
  
Frank watched with some amusement as Percy went from being extremely excited to see the so called 'ghost', to being very disappointed the ghost was just a normal person.   
Normal, though, might have been putting it a bit softly  
Valdez wasn't paying any attention after his initial upset, looking through the shelves in the room, randomly picking up and dropping supplies. Once or twice it seemed like he pocketed something, which Frank would have to keep a close eye on later, but for the time being there was more pressing matters.   
  
“So, as you may have guessed..I shouldn't be talking to you right now,” Di Angelo started. “I've been working here, under the interest of ..let's just say a few groups, for far longer than I'd like to be. However, Castellan is a real and immediate threat to the safety of others. I do not mean simply the prison. He's smart, and I'm sure he knows I've been here. He's the one person who is probably better at sneaking around than I am.”  
  
“Why's he here then?” Valdez muttered, still not looking particularly interested in what was happening. Jason hummed in agreement, while Percy crossed his arms.  
The meaning was clear enough, Valdez wasn't asking why Castellan had been arrested, but why if he was as good as Di Angelo said, why did he _remain_ in prison. Di Angelo had a way in and out of the prison, obviously, and Frank could bet that Castellan had a good idea of how to get out as well.   
  
“I can answer that easy enough,” Percy said sounding far more self assured than usual, “he's recruiting. I don't know what for though, but when I first got here, I thought Luke was a good guy. He plays the sympathetic big brother type really well. I really wish he was as nice as he plays.”  
  
“He used to be, supposedly” Di Angelo said after a moment. “Someone I ..work with, knew him fairly well in the past. He's got his reasons, and not all of them are completely wrong. The problem is Luke is not above killing to get what he wants.”  
  
“What _does_ he want?” Frank asked, watching as a muscle in Di Angelo's jaw twitched.   
  
“I can't divulge that information. But, we have reason to believe he's moving towards his final goal, which ultimately means a prison break is coming soon.”  
  
“Then breaking out isn't the ultimate goal? It's just a means to an end?” Jason asked, receiving a nod in the affirmative.   
  
“As Zhang can now attest, he also has sympathetic forces within the prison itself outside of other inmates. Castellan is looking to make this showy, he's flaunting whatever power he has over other inmates and the guards on his side. I've counted at least 5 guards, likely more, including Colvin who is more or less in charge of your Yard. ”   
As Di Angelo spoke, both Jason and Percy looked shocked at the news, even Valdez stopped moving so much.   
  
“Why our Yard?” Percy asked, brows furrowed.  
  
“Why now, too?” Jason added, “what need of his has been met, so that he wants to move towards whatever the next act is?”  
  
Di Angelo's expression turned dark, casting a look at Valdez.  
  
“He's done recruiting.”  
  
“Castellan wants Valdez on his side?” Frank asked with some amazement, which got the boys attention.  
  
“Me?” Valdez blinked, turning around to face Di Angelo. “I'm not on his side though. I've barely spoken to him.”  
  
“I'm guessing he's egotistical enough to assume he can get you on his side, Leo.” Jason answered for Di Angelo.   
  
“Well, fuck him.” Valdez said simply.   
  
“Valdez, if you have any acting abilities in you, give Castellan the impression you are on his side. We're not trying to prevent a prison break here, we're trying to limit the amount of civilian injuries while gathering enough information to permanently stop Castellan from the final stages of his plot.”  
  
“You want me to play spy?” Valdez grinned, and Frank was pretty sure it was the worst idea he had ever heard in the entirety of his life.   
  
“Spy, no. Definitely not. Just agree enough so Castellan thinks you'll join them in the future.”   
  
Thankfully, Nico di Angelo wasn't completely stupid.   
  
Valdez shrugged, “sure. Easy enough.”  
  
Di Angelo stared for a moment, not saying anything, before finally turning to the rest of the group.  
  
“Grace, Jackson. You two need to watch the guards, don't alert them, but monitor their movements and who they're talking to. I can't watch everyone, not without going more noticed, which is where you come in. You have slightly different schedules and work in different areas, so simple monitoring shouldn't be a huge problem. Just don't do anything stupid, like obviously giving yourself away.”  
  
Di Angelo looked straight at Percy for that last part, which didn't go unnoticed by the other man who frowned at the near insult.   
  
“Zhang, do what you're doing already,” Di Angelo announced as though Frank understood.  
  
“What exactly am I doing?”  
  
“You're my bodyguard, obviously.” Valdez said, with a taunting smirk.   
  
“More, or less,” Di Angelo agreed. “Now, go before you're noticed as missing. Don't go the same ways, don't appear to be more than friendly.” He paused, adding, “ ...Besides Zhang and Valdez, I don't think anyone thinks you're just friendly.”  
  
They began to leave, at slightly different intervals. As Frank began to walk out, he heard Di Angelo hold Valdez back.   
They had more to talk about, that apparently didn't need to be heard by the rest of them.  
  
Frank wasn't about to blindly listen to Di Angelo. A shady guy working for a shady group, supposedly investigating ..yet doing nothing to prevent an actual break out. A man who could get in an out of the prison without being noticed, at that. It all seemed insanely odd, and Frank wasn't about to let it slide.   
He'd need to find a way to get Hazel involved, to find out as much about Di Angelo as possible.   
  
\---   
  
“So,” Leo began, glancing towards Nico, now that they were alone in the storage closet.   
  
“I really don't have enough time to wait for you to make some sort of joke, just...listen. My point still stands, you need to at least put up the appearance of understanding when it comes to Luke, but there is more to it than that.” Nico said, voice sounding nearly dire.   
  
“He specifically wants you, because of your powers. He doesn't need your allegiance. It benefits him, but what he ultimately wants from you....” Nico trailed off, looking like he was uncertain of what more to say.  
  
Leo grimaced, “he doesn't want me sexually, right?”  
  
Nico's glare could have killed a weaker man.  
  
“ _No_ , he intends to set you off. To use your power to help power..something else.”   
  
“I'm guessing you're not going to tell me what that something else is...” Leo guessed correctly. “Why me, why my fire?”  
  
“There have been rumors of people with particularly powerful abilities, people who could either be a threat or an advantage to a cause. What you have is rare, which leads us to believe you may be one of them. If nothing else, Castellan believes you are.” Nico chose his words slowly, whatever Leo was still could not be told to him for whatever reason.   
  
“As soon as the break out happens, if it is successful, we'll have an extraction team ready to remove you and your friends to safety. Once we're in New York, you can know everything.” Nico explained, twisting a ring on his hand absentmindedly, in a nervous way that almost reminded Leo of..Leo.  
  
“New York?” Leo asked with raised brows. “Wait, extraction team? Who the fuck are you people, just tell me you're not the Fed.”  
  
“We're definitely not,” Nico shook his head. “I can't give you too many details. Someone who knows Luke well will be on the team, as well as another..affiliated group I guess you could call it. My sister is one of them. It'll be as safe as...as safe can be for people like us.”  
  
“Sister?” It was really the only part of the conversation Leo picked up on. “She cute?”  
  
“I can kill you in many different ways, as can Bianca. ...and don't even pretend you don't have something going on with Zhang.” Nico rolled his eyes, taking a step back.  
  
“I'll see you later, Valdez. Try not to burn anything else in the meantime, it'll make things a bit harder.”  
  
Leo watched as Nico vanished into the shadows.  
  
“Well, that was entirely unnerving,” Leo muttered, snatching a few more things off the shelves. He was still itching to build, and Nico handily breaking into a locked room for them to meet in gave him the perfect opportunity to stock up on some supplies.   
  
As he left the room, and turned a hallway corner, Leo ran into someone else. Not that it was hard to figure out who.   
  
“Miss me?” Leo grinned up at Frank, who was standing there with crossed arms like a mother whose daughter came home far after curfew.  
  
“1, what were you talking about that couldn't be spoken of in front of us?” Frank held up his hand, ticking off fingers as he counted. “2, what the hell did you grab in there?”  
  
Leo eyed Frank closely, sizing him up for long enough it was beginning to visibly unnerve the bigger man.   
  
“I can't say. Not everything. Mostly because I pretty much have no clue either, but, the general gist was I may be killed or injured at any given moment. Castellan thinks I’ve got what it takes to help him, and if he finds out I think he's bonkers, he'll probably have me _removed_ or something threatening like that.”   
It wasn't entirely a lie.  
  
“And the things you stole?” Frank asked after a minute, not looking like he really believed what Leo had said but accepting it was as good of an answer as he was going to get.   
  
“I like to build things,” Leo shrugged. “They don't have a great Shop class here. Or, any.”  
  
Frank sighed deeply, “nothing dangerous.”  
  
“I've got band-aids, rubber-bands and paperclips. What do you think I could do?”  
  
-  
  
Leo was done building his 8th fully functional miniature helicopter, sending the last one off to drop a 'bomb' onto Frank's sleeping figure. The bomb being a wad of confetti that was sure to infuriate Frank upon him waking.  
He'd exhausted a lot of what he had gathered, but he had a lot of pent up energy that was now in the form of one robot, a dragon, 2 tanks, a shark just because, and of course..the 8 helicopters.   
  
Sure enough at Lights Up, Frank sat up slowly, moving his hand to examine what was on his chest and face.   
  
“What the hell. What is this?” Frank muttered, before pausing. “Valdez.” He turned to glare daggers at Leo who would have fallen off a chair laughing, if he had a chair to sit on.  
  
“Oh, _god_. Your face! Priceless.” Leo hummed, camera. He needed a camera next.   
  
Frank stood up, showering down a rain of confetti from his body, as he began to stalk towards Leo. Leo was beginning to grow nervous, palms feeling warm, when Frank stopped. The bigger man looked around at all of the things on the floor, and the few helicopters that had landed on the bunk beds.  
  
“You..made all of this from pieces of office supplies?” Leo shrugged in response.   
  
“I told you, I like to make stuff.”  
  
“I hate to say it, but I'm more impressed than angry right now. I mean, if you do it again, I'll break your nose, but...otherwise.” Frank trailed off and his threat didn't sound very honest, as he picked up one of the helicopters gingerly.   
  
“This flew?”   
  
Leo nodded, “yeah, man.” Frank glanced over towards the others.  
  
“And the dragon? Does it fly?”  
  
Leo scratched at the back of his head, humming. “No, but it could. I need to fix the wings, but I don't have the supplies. Might just cannibalize one of the other ones, dragons are cooler than helicopters anyway.”  
  
“Not the most efficient fliers though,” Frank mumbled, ignoring the look Leo gave him. He grabbed one of the helicopters, tossing it to Leo.   
  
“Get it to fly, I'd actually like to see that.”  
  
And so Leo did, it took a few hours, taking apart the first and getting the right tweaks on the dragon. When time dragged on a bit too slowly for Frank's taste, he'd start reading the book Leo had on Mythology.  
  
“Why this book?” Frank asked at one point, making Leo look up, hands full of paperclips like some strange Edwards Scissorhand cosplayer.  
  
“Castellan told me to look up Greek Mythology, I thought he might have hidden some code or clue in one of the books that'd tell me more.” Leo answered, wincing as he pulled off the clips. Frank frowned, flipping through the pages quickly.  
  
“No markings that I can see,” Frank said, before turning the book upside down and doing the same thing again.  
  
“No, none that I can see either. Except, there is a missing page.”  
  
“Missing? Which?” Frank asked curiously, going to the table of contents at the first.  
  
“Greek section, page on the Olympians. They cover two of the 12 on each page, and the page missing should have covered Hermes and Demeter. I don't know jack shit about them though, so I can't say if there is any relevance.”  
  
“Did you check the Roman section?” Leo paused.  
  
“No, should I have?” Frank shrugged, turning to the appropriate pages.  
  
“Similar mythologies, not exactly the same, but there are bound to be bits of similar information to the Greek. Mercury, and Ceres, would be the names in the Roman pantheon.” Frank explained, smiling to himself as he reached the sections which hadn't been removed.  
  
“Mercury, son of Jupiter, God of Commerce, Poetry and Thievery. Ceres, Goddess of Agriculture. I'm guessing we're looking more at Mercury than Ceres, in relation to Castellan.”  
  
“Wait,” Leo frowned, “I thought those were planets and Sailor Moon characters.”  
  
“Sailor Moon characters were named after the planets, who were named after the Roman God's. Don't play stupid, you know Venus is the goddess of love which is why Sailor Venus had hearts and things. “ Frank said in a matter of a fact voice, pausing when he saw Leo's smirk.  
  
“All I heard just now is, 'I'm a big nerd who watches cartoons'. Very sad, Zhang.”  
  
“I'm not the one spending his time making toys, Valdez.” Frank shot back, but it fell a little flat.  
  
“So,” Leo ignored him, “God of Thievery, and presumably jackasses, sounds promising. Does it say much more?”  
  
“Unfortunately not, just a quick run down of each, and some of the major monsters, and that's about it. If you get close to him again, might be worth mentioning.”  
  
Leo waved it off, focusing back on his dragon. “Sure, sure. I'm sure he'll be happy we cracked 1/3 of his code. It'll go great.”  
  
“Speaking of codes...,” Frank started, putting the book down. Leo grinned, purposely tapping out a message he new Frank wouldn't know. As expected, the man's eyes narrowed slightly. Not knowing was burning him up inside, Leo could tell.   
  
“Yes, _that_. Quite frankly, I don't entirely trust Di Angelo, and if you're as smart as you occasionally appear to be, I'm guessing you don't trust him entirely either. Especially since right now, it's your life he's putting on the line.”  
  
Leo cocked his head, interested in the little journey towards The Point Frank was taking him on.  
“And, this has what to do with Morse code?”  
  
“We, in here, can't look him up. We can't do anything. But, my girlfriend is already researching the prison history. Next time I speak to her, if I could communicate to her to research both Luke Castellan and Nico di Angelo, without alerting anyone, it may end up benefiting you as well as me.”  
  
“Interesting,” Leo smirked, “I like this. Your offer is, I teach you Morse code, you benefit by knowing what I'm saying and you get a new fancy secret way to talk to your girl.”  
  
Frank cocked an eyebrow, “you deny that it's a good idea?”  
  
“No, it's good. Not good enough to trick me. Your girlfriend doesn't know Morse, rendering this entire conversation useless.”  
  
It was Frank's turn to smile, which mildly unnerved Leo.  
  
“Actually, she does. She learned, I didn't think it would ever be useful enough to memorize at the time.”  
  
“Prove it, and maybe I'll agree.” Leo said simply, going back to the dragon. The look on Frank's face quite plainly read that he would at any cost.  
  
\---  
  
Frank had no options but to ask Hazel outright, knowing full well there was a good chance that whoever was listening would put one and one together and realize that they were using Morse to transport information.   
They'd have to use some form of cypher, to conceal any more important information, but for the time being, he needed to show Valdez that Hazel actually knew Morse.   
She had become interested in sorts of hidden languages while they were in their teens, and spent a good deal of time learning different types of communication. Frank's physical training had taken longer to master than Hazel's, who was initially a much quicker learn. The girl was quick and agile like a cat, and as strong as Frank was, he'd even now not want to fight her full out. So, while he attempted to get himself into finer fighting form, she focused on another art.   
  
“Hazel, do you think you could give my cellmate a message in Morse code?” Frank asked gravely, to which she sounded surprised.  
  
 _“I...could. Why?”_ She meant, 'is this something you should be asking me?'  
  
“My cellmate knows it, and is using it to drive me up the wall. When I mentioned you new it, he didn't believe me.”  
  
 _“I see, yeah I guess I can. What do you want to say?”_ Hazel sounded a bit incredulous, but amused which was a good sign.   
  
Frank sighed, running a hand through his hair, “I don't know. Something like, 'hi, Leo Valdez'? I just kind of want him to shut up for awhile.”  
  
Hazel laughed, _“I see. Sure, I think I can do that much. Do you have a piece of paper? Oh, did I tell you about that new deli? It's got really good food, but a very Hispter-y kind of nonsense name. Zgyzhs, I think? Oh, you know, maybe it's a different language..Anyway, we'll have to go when you get out, if it's still open.”_  
  
Frank smiled. Hazel was brilliant.   
She used the Atbash cypher _on_ the word Atbash, turning it into a fictional Deli. It sounded enough like small talk, he highly doubted whatever smalltime employee they had monitoring the call would pick up on it. Better yet, they wouldn't know how it was spelled, to use the cypher on, even if they did guess it was a cryptogram. It was one they had used in the past, otherwise Fran wouldn't have known immediately what she meant.  
From now on, any sensitive information could be passed by the cypher..and hopefully Morse, if Valdez agreed.  
  
-  
  
Valdez stared down at the sheet of paper Frank had slammed down on the lunch table next to him.  
  
“This is?”  
  
“Proof.”   
  
Valdez picked up the paper curiously, eyes darting across the page, before smiling.  
  
“Interesting. 'Hello, Leo. Please don't give Frank too hard of a time, _smiley face_.' She literally wrote out the words smiley face,” Valdez laughed. Frank's ears turned slightly red.  
  
“Let's see, 'Your last name is Valdez? I used to know someone named Valdez, in New Orleans I don't suppose you have family there do you? How odd would that be? I'm purposely making Frank write a lot here, because he doesn't know what I'm saying. I'm guessing he's realizing that right now. Sorry, Sweetie _smiley face_ '. Oh my _god_ , I love this girl.” Valdez was cackling by then, wiping tears out of his eyes, only to start laughing harder when he saw Frank's expression.   
  
“Please finish,” Frank grimaced.  
  
“Okay, okay. Fine, mood killer. 'I hope this serves as proof, and that you take pity on my boyfriend. Thank you, sincerely Miss L.'”  
  
“So?” Frank asked, glancing between the note and the shorter man.  
  
“Okay, fine. I'll teach you Morse. But, I'm not telling you anything I've said in the past.”  
  
“Deal,” Frank said instantly.  
  
“You know,” Valdez said, glancing back down at the note, “I do have distant relatives in New Orleans. Mother's father's..father's side or something. That would be really weird, wouldn't it?”   
  
Frank paused in his excitement, thinking on the statement. A sinking feeling was growing in his stomach, like his thoughts hadn't quite caught up to where his brain was already at.  
  
-  
  
Learning Morse wasn't particularly hard, a bit annoying, and all of Valdez' examples were generally curse words or otherwise lewd.   
There were a few times where Frank would translate a message, flush and glare, before dragging Valdez off somewhere abandoned where eyes wouldn't pry.  
  
He was getting much better, written out was no problem, slow deliberate taps were no problem, but the quicker less direct messages that Valdez would tap on the go were a bit more difficult. It wasn't that he couldn't understand them, but that he was less quick to realize he was supposed to be listening.  
  
Never the less, Frank was operating on enough information that future communication with Hazel into investigating the facility and those within should be much easier. Valdez himself was interested in that as well, wanting to more about Castellan before any sort of talks between him and the man began.  
  
One slight disappointment was that Valdez was making a point of not tapping like he had been before, so Frank wouldn't ever learn that secret.   
  
Of course, Frank didn't think Valdez could keep it up. At first he thought it was something Valdez was doing specifically to bother him, but as the days dragged on, Frank could see it was beginning to weigh on him. The guy was twitchier, snapping a rubber band or nearly tearing at his own hair in an attempts not to simply tap. It seemed to be a habit, like nail biting, something that generally he did absent mindedly that he was now having to control. Valdez didn't seem to have a ton of self control, which was the problem.   
Frank would wait, Valdez having pent up energy wasn't always a bad thing for him.   
  
Actually, overall....things had been pretty good.   
They talked more when Valdez was teaching him, sat more besides him while he was crafting, Frank usually reading. Sometimes the opposite, where Frank was working out and Valdez was in the shade, or on the ground next to the fence, tapping messages to Frank. It was usually stupid stuff, more likely than not to be song lyrics, classic Macho movie things like Eye of the Tiger. Frank actually found himself chuckling sometimes, or humming to the nonexistent tune.  
  
It wasn't exactly that Frank liked Valdez more now, though..maybe he did. Not that he'd admit it, not that he trusted him in the least, but at least in the here and now..Frank believed Valdez' words more than most of the inmates..or guards.  
Sure there was Percy and Jason, Frank didn't think they were dishonest individuals, but he didn't know them well enough to say for certain or not. Percy, he knew, was smarter than he let on, and similarly had a past Frank didn't know of.   
Valdez on the other hand, was upfront with the fact he was hiding something, dangling it in front of Frank like he wanted to be found out. It was more tantalizing than it should have been, as was Valdez. None of it was bound to end well, but Frank had long accepted such things in his life.   
  
He really wished it was all more..contained than it was, however, the nature of their relationship. It seemed like everyone knew, a few other inmates actually _congratulated_ him.   
It was a power thing, there was no doubt about it, from their perspective, they weren't hailing him for sex, they were praising him for what they saw as controlling Valdez. They were extremely mistaken.  
But, the other inmates that Frank spoke to rarely weren't hugely the problem. It was people like Percy and Jason, who looked at them differently now.   
Jason, though, who was closer friends to Valdez was the biggest problem.  
  
“Here,” Jason said, pushing something into Frank's hands. Frank glanced down, nearly dropping the items when he realized what they were.  
  
“I really don't-” Frank began, shifting awkwardly. Other inmates were beginning to glance their way.

“You really do, maybe not yet. And, maybe not ever, but I kind of doubt it.” Jason said it flatly, readjusting his glasses with a finger.  
  
“If you don't, then whatever. Just pass them on to someone who can use them, or turn them into the guards. But, I'm looking out for Leo here...” Jason sniffed, moving to walk past Frank, but first patting him on the shoulder. “Safety first.”  
  
Frank watched as Jason left, before looking down and frowning at the 'presents' he had been gifted by the blond.   
Lube and condoms. It wasn't something he could carry around all day, so Frank walked back to his cell, and tossed them onto his bed, planning on stuffing it under the mattress later.   
  
In retrospect, probably should have hidden them then.  
  
\---  
  
Leo was whistling walking into their cell, before Lights Out, enjoying a fairly easy day as far as his days went.   
Work had been light, they had a longer free period, no one tried to kill him, and Leo showered before the other guys so he had it pretty much to himself.  
...Besides Old Man Carl, but no one cared about showering with Old Man Carl, because the guy was like 87 and could barely see.  
  
Flopping down on Frank's bunk, Leo relished the sweet sweet alone time he had been given, tapping on his thighs and the blankets to his hearts abandon.   
  
It had been incredibly hard the last 2 weeks, teaching Frank Morse, at the same time having to curb his own little habit.  
It wasn't like it was incriminating, just embarrassing. No one needed to know he still carried on some of the traditions he formed with his mother. That was just a bit sad and pathetic, even for prison. He'd caught himself a few times, starting with a 'Are y-' and cutting it off before Frank heard the whole thing. Leo was just happy he didn't accidentally tap out, 'I love you', because that would have been an awkward one to explain to Frank. He had started once, but managed to turn it into the lyrics of I Love Rock&Roll' before it got weird.  
  
Leo had actually told all of this to Jason, after Jason told him he knew, and Leo was kind of forced to explain otherwise look strange..stranger anyway. Of course, he didn't include anything about his powers or the circumstances around his mothers death, but Jason didn't ask much anyway. He was a good guy.   
  
Frank had been getting in the showers with a few other inmates in their Yard, around the same time Leo was leaving, which meant Leo had a good 10 minutes of tapping freedom.   
  
Then his fingers hit something plastic wrap-y, and Leo frowned and sat up, looking at what was half buried under the blankets.   
  
He found himself looking at an unraveling line of Extra Large condoms. Then Leo noticed the lube, and his ears lit on fire. That hadn't happened in awhile, likely due to the extra stress of the place, and he was quick to slap the sides of his head to extinguish the flames.   
  
“Oh my god,” Leo muttered, turning them around; inspecting them like they'd vanish at any moment, or like his eyes weren't working correctly.   
  
So, that of course was when Frank walked in, with Leo on his bed, holding up condoms and lube.  
  
Frank stopped in his tracks, Leo froze similarly. Then he dropped the items like a hot potato.  
  
“I, uh. Didn't. They're not mine.” Leo said quickly, not even really sure what to say in this situation.  
  
“They're. Jason..gave them to me. He was.... insistent about it.” Frank said, looking slightly sheepish. “I wasn't sure where to put them”  
  
“Oh,” Leo blinked. “Right then. Okay. So, I mean. You're _not_ saying you want to have sex then.”  
  
Frank looked frozen like deer in the headlights of a true blue Texan semi-truck, opening his mouth and closing it a few times.   
  
“I'm...I mean. Did you want to?” Frank said, sounding surprised with the question he himself was asking. Leo paused, looking down at the items.  
  
“Did _you_ want to?” Leo parroted back, which had Frank looking like Frank again, otherwise known as 'annoyed'.  
  
“I'm not saying I don't want to, but I'm not going to bring it up if you don't want to.” Frank snapped, but he his cheeks were still flushed in a way that made Leo really want to just walk up and bite his earlobe.   
  
“..Sure, okay. Yeah, why not?” Leo shrugged, as though his heart wasn't pounding, as if he knew anything about actually having sex.   
  
“..Right,” Frank paused, nodding. “Alright then.”  
  
“Tonight?” Leo asked, to which Frank agreed.   
  
“After Lights Out, of course,” Frank corrected. Of course, Leo thought.   
  
And so, an hour or so later, Leo found himself completely nude and completely under Frank.  
Frank was fiddling with getting the condom on, and Leo was staring because he literally had no other idea of what he was supposed to be doing. This was not at all like giving blow jobs. Leo liked doing that.   
This. Was...kind of...frightening.  
He could feel his hands shaking slightly, and it became more pronounced when Frank grabbed his knees and pushed them up towards his chest. Supposedly, it'd make it easier on Leo. But, to Leo, it felt..cage like. His legs couldn't kick, and his arms weren't going to do anything against Frank. The guy was massive.  
There was only one way Leo could stop Frank, and that'd be with fire. But, he couldn't burn Frank, he didn't want to burn Frank. So, he'd...just accept it?   
  
“Are you okay? Is this good?” Frank's eyes came up to meet Leo's. Leo took a deep breath, nodding a few times shakily. Frank began to look concerned.  
  
“...Are you sure?” Frank asked again, moving his hands from Leo's thigh, where he had been getting ready to..  
  
“Yeah,” Leo nodded more. No. “Yeah, yeah.”   
  
Frank stared, “do you want to say 'yeah' more, it might eventually convince me.”  
  
“We're already here, aren't we? Just...do it.” Leo grimaced, which made Frank frown.   
  
“ _Leo_ , I can stop. I'll stop if you want.” Frank said in his nicest, sweet guy Frank voice that Leo rarely ever heard directed at him.   
  
“Fuck,” Leo hissed, bringing his arms up to cover his face, to cover his eyes that were beginning to feel a bit wet.   
  
“Leo?” His tone was still concerned, reassuring. Leo shook his head side to side.  
  
“No, no. I don't. I don't want to. Not now. Can we stop, please? I can't do it right now, I'm not ready. I'm sorry.”  
  
Frank didn't say anything, just shifted, moving off and to the side until he was laying next to Leo. He felt the blankets move, and get pulled up over his body.  
  
“It's okay,” Frank said finally. “There's nothing wrong with that. You don't have to apologize for anything.”  
  
Leo moved his arms slightly, and cracked an eye open to look at Frank through the dimness of the room.  
  
“..It's okay?” Frank nodded. “...Okay.”  
  
They just laid there, awake, in silence, just breathing for awhile. Leo began to grow embarrassed, but it wasn't because of what he had said, it wasn't because he was naked.   
It was..it was really nice just to lay next to him. Just that alone, it was simple and sweet and kind of perfect. As much as his life had been up until this point.   
  
“Hey,” Leo whispered.  
  
“Hm?” Frank had been twisting a stand of string off the blanket, but looked up when Leo spoke.  
  
“What book were you reading this afternoon?”  
  
“The Sun Also Rises, by Hemingway.” Frank answered, smiling just slightly. Leo hummed in thought.  
  
“Is it good?” Frank shrugs. “Tell me about it.”  
  
As Frank spoke, telling Leo what he had read, Leo found his hands lightly ghosting over Frank's arms, and side. It didn't go unnoticed, but Frank didn't do anything to stop it either.   
It was easy to fall asleep that night.  
  
-  
  
Their actual first time came 5 days later. It was great, slightly embarrassing, and all around amazing. The foreplay took excruciatingly longer than either would like, but neither wanted to rush it. It hurt, just briefly, but the pain wasn't intense and quickly abated after a few deep breaths and very awkward small talk as Frank tried to take his mind off of it.   
  
The sex itself was good, and better the times following once they were both far more used to it, far more accustom to one another.  
  
But, to Leo, in the back of his mind, their _true_ first time was the time neither for them did anything. When nothing happened.   
Because at the time it was the closest they had ever been.  
  
Things weren't going to stay good for long, there was a storm coming, and Castellan and his followers were becoming increasingly more active.  
  
But, Leo thought to himself, in the days to come that might not be so grand, he'd still have the memory of that one night.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, next chapter after this should be coming soon and will very much be jumping into the shark tank for the first time.   
> By the next chapter, we shall be getting caught up to the time frame of the first chapter..which was more a preamble into the story. You might be wondering, if their relationship is moving towards a more peaceable one now..why the antagonism in the first chapter? 
> 
> All shall be explained in the next chapter. It's gunna be a bumpy ride.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leo and Luke have a long talk. Finding out the truth just creates more lies, and more divide.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I call this the, 'shit gets real' chapter.   
> (again, thank you to everyone who has commented and given kudos, you're all wonderful people.)

  
  
  


“So, I was thinking,” Valdez started, and where in the past Frank may have groaned, he now smiled.  
  
“That bodes well,” Frank teased, putting his book down.   
  
It was lunch, but Frank finished quickly and went back to reading, while Valdez and Percy finished their meals in relative silence.   
Both of them never seemed particularly thrilled with their meals. Valdez had mentioned at one point that he liked cooking, and that prison food was a travesty against nature. Percy, Frank wasn't sure about. He just muttered something about the color or the texture being off, that Frank just didn't understand.  
  
“Where did Jason even _get_ lube and condoms?” Valdez asked, a question that may have surprised Percy if he hadn't wised up to where Frank's relationship had headed with Valdez. They certainly didn't talk about it, though just once Percy expressed some disappointment over Frank's unfaithfulness to Hazel.   
Frank had enough of that coming from his own head, so he was glad Percy said no more on the subject.  
  
“Actually,” Percy blinked, looking surprised, “I have no idea.”   
  
“You two, you're not,” Valdez wiggled his fingers together in a way that'd have school teachers fainting.  
  
“No, not really.” Percy said, and Frank paused at the same time Valdez did.  
  
“...Excuse me?” Valdez said, eyes big. “What was that? Not _really_? What the hell does not really mean?”  
  
Percy shrugged, “we're kind of the.. opposite of you guys. Like, I feel like we're sort of dating, but without any sex or anything. It's just the sort of, 'hey, how was your day,' talk. We're basically an old married couple that was never together in the first place, it's kind of sad. Prison married life.”   
  
“Prison married,” Frank repeated, in confusion. Valdez looked just as lost.  
  
“But, yeah, no. We've never _done_ anything. So, I have no idea who he got it from, it definitely wasn't me.”  
  
“Who then, I wonder.” Leo-...Valdez stirred his mashed potatoes a bit quicker, tapping out 'who, who, who'.   
He'd seemed to channel his need to tap into more conscious efforts, so Frank still had no idea what he had been saying in the past...and in all honesty Frank was beginning not to care. A lot of things Valdez did that used to annoy the hell out of him had been..waning.  
It bugged him, just a bit, the fact he didn't care as much as he used to.  
  
“Probably just someone he works with, you two aren't the only inmates that are...” Percy trailed off, waving a hand.  
  
“Having repeated coitus?” Valdez supplied far too happily.  
  
“Please stop talking,” Frank sighed, though Percy seemed like he was trying not to crack a smile.  
  
Frank was actually surprised how quickly and easily Valdez took to talking so openly about sex, given their first attempt had been a bit stressful. He had spent so much time thinking about Valdez as just this figure that existed to make his life harder, Frank finally realizing that Leo Valdez was as much a human being as anyone was ..rather eye opening.   
And a bit scarier, to be honest.   
  
Frank would have never forced anyone, but..that had been about Frank's own morals, and doing the right thing; now he was actively thinking more, _concerned_ about Valdez' needs and wants. Not just listening, but a conscious effort to make him feel as good as possible.  
  
After their first try, Valdez didn't do much for the next day or so, he barely even spoke to Frank much less anyone else. He was visibly shaken up, and that shook up Frank. Valdez seemed to recover quickly, but their relationship was obviously- and likely permanently- changed. Maybe to everyone else in the prison it seemed relatively similar to any other day, but it was their nights that were different.   
It wasn't sex that changed it, it was some unspoken intimacy that had.   
For one, Valdez rarely slept in his bunk anymore, they generally slept side by side. That was easier when they were having sex, sure, but even the nights when they didn't do anything..they still slept together. Valdez would ask about Frank's books, or some other hobby, and Frank would often help or ask about whatever little thing the other man was making. Sometimes they just immediately fell asleep after a long day, and Frank was actually just as okay with those times as the times they had sex.  
  
Frank hated that he liked it all, liked his time with him. It was so much easier when he hated him. When he didn't have to struggle to continue calling him Valdez instead of _Leo_.  
When he didn't have to fight the urge to tell Hazel everything the second he would hear her voice on the telephone. It was so difficult to continue lying to her, even if it was omission of truth rather than straight out lies.  
  
Worse yet, Hazel actually seemed to _like_ Valdez. What little Frank could afford to tell her, she seemed to find amusing. She'd ask to hear what he had said and done that day, all the while they were passing messages via morse, but Frank would still struggle to recall some actual day to day activity.   
He couldn't very well say, 'well, the way he bites his lip when I enter him is actually really cute.'   
  
But, the fact remained, as time progressed Frank found himself growing increasingly fond and increasingly protective of Valdez.   
  
Which is why he had to fight the urge to put himself between Valdez and Castellan, when the man showed up later that day.  
  
It was during Free Period, and Valdez was following Frank to the library, when they rounded the corner and saw him. Castellan had been relaxing against the wall, looking like he had been waiting for them, which should have been impossible, but not for a man who had multiple guards under his control.   
  
“Leo Valdez, just the man I wanted to talk to.” Castellan smiled, and it was the kind of grin that sort of made you want to smile back. Castellan was a natural politician, undeniably charming no doubt, but it did nothing but put Frank on high alert.  
  
“Yeah? You know, you're right man. It's been too long. Frank, I'll meet up with you later, aight?” Valdez grinned, an actor in his own right, slapping Frank on the arm, and walking away with Castellan.  
  
Castellan, just briefly, sent a look over his shoulder to Frank. Frank wasn't certain what to make of the expression, and that worried him more.   
  
But, for the time being he couldn't do anything but wait. This was Valdez' task, and while he didn't know how much faith to put in him, he had to hope Valdez wouldn't do anything stupid.  
  
Lost in thought, walking into the library, Frank was surprised to hear his name called. The librarian, and elderly, nearing retirement guard, smiled and bid him over with a curl of the hand.  
  
“Something wrong, sir?” Frank asked curiously. The librarian never really spoke to him much, though it was obvious Frank was the main customer here.   
  
“No, no,” the balding man shook his head. “You've got mail, son.”   
  
“Mail?” Frank asked, “we get mail?”  
  
“Of course, well, not always. Not for everyone. It's screened, of course, but you received a letter.”   
  
Frank took the letter wordlessly, glancing at the man, before down at it.   
  
Hazel.  
  
Frank opened it carefully, and pulled out the note. It wasn't long, but there was a picture enclosed too. One Frank was familiar with, one that made him smile.   
  
_'I know we've spoken on the phone, but it doesn't really feel like enough, does it? I don't think anything will be until I can see you again, which is why I've been looking through our old photographs.  
I don't really have much to say here, I just realized how unfair it must be that I still get to see you..in a way, in these, but you haven't seen me in a few months now. Maybe you don't want to keep a lot of pictures with you, but I hope this comes as a nice surprise?  
I love you so much! Take care, and say Hi to your roomie for me.  
-HL.'  
  
_“Is she your girlfriend?” The librarian asked, breaking Frank out of his thoughts as he folded back up the letter and photo.  
  
“Yeah,” Frank nodded, probably with a dumb smile on his face.   
  
“Do you want a piece of advice, son?” The old man said, readjusting himself on the chair he was always sat on.  
  
“Uh, in regards to what? I think it's a bit late for 'don't go to prison',” Frank smiled, trying to joke, though it wasn't particularly heartfelt.   
  
“There are some things, things that happen in a mans life, where he doesn't think. He knows what he has, but he just doesn't think. You seem to have a good one, don't let that go.”   
  
Frank realized what the man meant, furrowing his brows.  
  
“If you're telling me to stop what I'm doing with Valdez, well..it's a bit late. I'm already where I am.”  
  
The man shook his head slowly, “you don't understand. You may have already burned a bridge, but you don't have to tell her you're the one who started the fire. Do you get it?”  
  
Frank's expression fell, “you're telling me to lie to her?”  
  
“We've all been there, in one way or another. Not necessarily with a Latino _boy_....but, still. It's not lying if you don't say anything at all.”  
  
Frank clenched his jaw, clenching the letter from Hazel even tighter.   
  
“I disagree. Thank you for the mail, sir. I have to go back to my cell.”  
  
  
\---  
  
Luke Castellan led Leo to a small room, a post for two guards. The guards had been there, vacating when Luke told them to. Leo had known Luke had pull here, but it was still incredibly disconcerting to see it up close and personal.   
  
“So, Leo, sit down. We've got a _lot_ to talk about.” Luke grinned while pulling out his own chair, making Leo feel not anything close to reassured. They were secluded, alone, and while Luke didn't seem like much just by himself...Leo didn't think it'd be a good idea to underestimate him. They took their spots, across a desk from one another, which felt a bit like some sort of interview process. Maybe it was, in a way, Luke was vetting him after all.   
  
“I'd say,” Leo agreed. “Where to start?”  
  
Luke laughed, kicking back in his chair. “How about, Nico di Angelo?”  
  
“Oh, Too Spooky? Yeah, the guy's shady.”  
  
Luke smirked at the pun, or maybe the nickname, and there was a hint of honesty in his reaction that Leo hadn't been expecting.   
  
“He's been scuttling around for awhile, not shocking given his parentage. Not that I can say much against him in that regard, given my own. So, Leo, did you take up my advice? Read any good books?” Luke asked, a knowing look in his eyes.  
  
“I did, yes. I wasn't really expecting homework though, man. Not a cool joke to play on a guy.” Leo admitted. “I did noticed a page was missing. Got a beef with Hermes?”  
  
Humor left Luke's face, which just accentuated the scar across it. Leo had obviously hit a nerve.  
  
“Did Nico tell you anything? Anything of actual worth?”  
  
“No, but admittedly, neither have you.”   
  
Luke's smirk came back full force, looking for all the world like he had just gotten whatever he wanted. That worried Leo.   
  
Luke looked like he just got Checkmate, and Leo hadn't even known exactly what game was being played.  
  
“Then let me be the one to enlighten you.” Luke's tone was that of a preacher, someone who knew how to talk, someone who knew how to get people to believe whatever he said.   
“Let me guess something here, about you Leo, about your past. Now, you can tell yourself I learned all this from files, informants, whatever...But I don't need to, because your story is similar to people like us. All of us, and I'll tell you why in just a minute.”  
  
“Cryptic, _love it_.” Leo shot him an annoyed look, telling him to get to the point.  
  
“One of your parents has been missing since birth. You know nothing about them, no name, nothing. But, your other parent spoke very fondly of them..at least for awhile. Things usually start to go south during late childhood to early teens, depending on the person.”  
  
“You're not wrong,” Leo agreed with a small nod of his head. “Father missing.”  
  
Luke tipped his head knowingly, “and I'm sure your mother made some mention or promise that you'd see him some day, or meet him or just speak to him?”  
  
Leo didn't say anything to that, just gestured for Luke to continue.  
  
“I get it, this is annoying, but I'm trying to set groundwork here. You want to know the big secret? The one no one else has told you? Who you are, what you are, what _any_ of this is?”  
  
Luke stood up a bit straighter, his eyes serious. Leo, at least this time, didn't get the feeling Castellan was about to lie. The man's truth record was about as straight as a zigzag, but this seemed different.  
  
“We're _not_ human. We're half human. And, we're also half God.”  
  
Leo blinked, before barking out a laugh in surprise.  
  
“ _God_? Man, what have you been smoking...”  
  
“Demigod, would be the term. Greek, to be exact. My father, is Hermes. Nakamura? His mother is Nemesis. Nico? His dear ol' dad is Hades, God of the underworld.”  
  
Leo frowned, “you're not joking. You might be crazy, but you're not joking.”  
  
Luke waved a hand, chuckling, “I am definitely not joking. I _wish_ I was joking, trust me, my life would make far more sense if this actually was some huge delusion. But, it isn't. If it was, it'd be shared by _hundreds_ of people. There's even a secret camp for demigods. I was there, for a couple years, which is how I know Nico di Angelo.”  
  
Leo opened his mouth to speak, but Luke held up a hand for him to wait.   
  
“Ask yourself, is what I'm saying really so weird ...given that you can, at will, create fire? Or, how about the monsters? The mist, that prevents normal humans from seeing what we do. You know what I'm talking about here, Leo. You know what I mean, I'm just here to expand your vocabulary, to give you a name for all of it.”   
  
Leo didn't know what to say, not immediately, his brain was working overtime trying to process what was being said.  
He could almost feel the cogs turning in his own skull. He was tapping, he could feel that, but his hands had a mind of their own these days.   
After teaching Frank, and then training himself not to say what he had said to his mother as a child, he'd begun tapping reiterations of his own thought processes. There were times Frank would have to tell _him_ what Leo had been tapping, usually something about whatever he was building, because he still had trouble paying attention..even to himself.  
  
He just hoped Luke wasn't as familiar with morse, because right now, his thoughts were all over the place.  
  
It fit, everything Luke was saying, in a strange way. He couldn't discount the possibility that maybe Leo _wanted_ it to fit..to convince himself there wasn't actually anything wrong with him.  
But deep down, Leo knew that wasn't it. Luke was right, all he was doing was giving a name to all of Leo's experiences.  
  
“...Do you know then,” Leo started slowly, “who my father is?”  
  
Leo had read the Mythology book, Greek and Roman sections, and the only God that seemed to have much to do with fire was Hephaestus. The name felt kind of strange in Leo's head.  
  
“You know, I'm not sure.” Luke answered. “Hephaestus would be the fire guy, but I've met other children of his. Fire powers? I've never seen it before, not for anyone.”  
  
“Helpful,” Leo said dryly. Typical, Leo thought. Of course _he'd_ be the freak. Even out of a group of them, he had to go and stand out.  
  
“We'll figure it out though. That's why I'm here, why we are. You're not alone,” Luke said softly. “You don't have to experience any of this alone, trust me on that. We're here for you.”  
  
“Who is ' _we_ '? You and your friends, or is Nico included in that too?” Leo asked suspiciously.  
  
“Right now, me and my friends, yes. Maybe, Nico may see our side of things in the future. As of now, our opinion on matters is a bit different.”  
  
“Do I have to ask what matters, or are you going to explain without the whole round about mysterious thing?”  
  
Luke chuckled, “well, you see..it's actually fairly simple. All of this mysteriousness, all of the divide, all the secrets and secret keepers. The reasoning isn't that complicated. We disagree, essentially, on management. Who gets to make the rules, that sort of thing.”  
  
Leo's mouth dropped slightly in disbelief. “You're kidding me. You're telling me this is _political_?”  
  
“Basically,” Luke nodded. “My people don't think the Olympians need to be in power anymore. We'd like to see change in governing.”  
  
“Olympians..you mean the Olympus? The ...big 12? I'm sorry, I'm still processing the whole God thing.”

“Right, the God's of Olympus. Zeus is King, you probably know that much. If you're familiar with the myths at all, you've probably heard at least one story of him going out and knocking up a mortal. That's really all you have to know about him. That is essentially _all_ he does. The rest aren't much better, not only have they done relatively nothing for humans, they're even worse about protecting their half human children.”  
  
“If not them, then who? You? Are you aiming for King status, or God status?”  
  
“Neither,” Luke shook his head. “But, I do want more representation for demigods, definitely. We're working with the Titans, another group the Olympians screwed over. We want to rebuild what we see as a broken system. You can understand that, right? Of course you do, we're both American. Think of it in a similar way, we see a bunch of old...out of touch people. They're more interested in warring against one another, than helping anyone.”  
  
Leo thought back, trying to remember what he had read about the Titans. No book had much in the way of extensive information, and right now Leo was going more off of what he remembered from Disney's Hercules movie.  _Probably_ not the most reliable source.   
  
“There isn't much on them, don't worry. They were who came before the God's, and in the case of a few, were their parents. Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades are brothers. They overthrew their parents, and then turned on each other. Because they're undeniably strong...but undeniably selfish and cruel.”  
  
Leo hummed, “so you want to replace old and out of touch with  _older_ and more out of touch? Good plan.”  
  
Luke's smile was not one that was honest, and for just a moment his eyes looked..different.   
  
“Older, yes, but not more out of touch. They understand us far better.  _Kronos_ understands.”  
  
Leo was beginning to remember why Luke and his followers had been compared to a cult. He tried not to let it show on his face, but whatever truths Luke may have spoken aside, the guy was still obviously not entirely stable.  
This was way more than just politics.   
  
“Do you want my story, Leo? Why I don't trust the Olympians? My mother, was one of the few mortals who could see through the mist. Hermes, is my father. But, when my mother was cursed by Hades, Hermes did nothing. I was nine when I had to leave my home due to my mother..just..deteriorating before my very eyes. Can you understand that, Leo? What it feels like to realize your father didn't care about you..didn't care about your mother..whatsoever? That he'd let you both  _die?_ ”  
  
Leo's fists clenched, jaw clenched. “Don't pretend you haven't read up on me, Luke.”  
  
Luke wasn't fazed, and continued on anyway, leaning in closer.  
“What happened to your mother, Leo? What happened to you? Why are you here? Why aren't you happy, and safe? It's because whoever your dad is..he doesn't give a shit.”   
Luke paused, before relaxing slightly, “and, you know what? That'd be fine if that was just what it was, but it isn't. These God's are in charge of our lives, in charge of the world. They aren't just absentee parents. This isn't a question of missing some school plays and little league games. They literally have the power to end the world as we know it.”  
  
Laughing hollowly, Leo nodded his head. “You make a convincing argument, Luke, you really do. I'm just not sure why I should be siding with the..what, Titans? What makes them any different? How do they possibly understand us. Understand  _that_ .”  
  
“Kronos listens to us. That is the difference. You could pray to your father time and time again, believe me, but there is no guarantee he'll answer or even listen. Kronos reached out to me, before I did him. That is something Hermes never did. Kronos trusts me, Hermes does not. Kronos values me, us. Hermes..Well, you know where I'm going with this.”  
  
“I still have to talk to Nico. If you're smart, you'll understand why.” Leo could see why Luke was the way he was, but there was no way Leo would ever join his little movement.  
But, Leo had a sneaking suspicion he'd not side completely with Nico either. The guy had been even less up front than Luke, which really didn't say much for whatever side he was backing.  
  
“Of course,” Luke nodded. “I trust you'll make the right decision. But, can I give you a bit of a heads up?”  
  
Leo shrugged, and Luke continued.  
“Nico's a bit younger than you. He's seen a lot, don't get me wrong, I don't think he's naïve. But he's bound by..like I said, he's a son of Hades. He's strong, I helped rescue him when he was just a little kid. Him and his sister, I don't hate either of them. But, I can't say the same about their father. All of the Gods, they have these petty little fights between themselves that end up having terrible consequences on the rest of us. But, they're vain. They don't care about us, but they can't stand it if  _we_ don't care about them. They want prayers, they want things done in their name.”  
  
Creepy, Leo tapped, but said nothing.  
  
“Demigod kids get pulled into this world usually, like I said, when they're young. 8 years old to early teens. They're usually scared, in a state of panic. A lot of times, they have no one besides themselves...which is fucking hard when you're a kid. They need something reliable, and they turn to their parents. They're afraid to admit to themselves that their parents are just selfish, vain figureheads. Nico was so young when he arrived at camp, so completely lost in the world with only his big sister, he bought into the bullshit. And, by the way, the camp is  _run_ by a God. Makes it even harder for dissenters to say anything.”  
  
“That does sound a bit sketchy,” Leo paused. “What about Jason Grace, Frank Zhang, and Percy Jackson? Nico seemed to think one or all of them might be...I guess a demigod as well.”  
  
“Percy definitely is, and he's not telling anywhere near as much as he knows. I don't know his parent either, but he's strong. There is no way he'd have survived as long on his own if he wasn't. Grace and Zhang, no. Not that I’ve heard. Though, I will admit.... Grace has the same eyes and last name as a girl I knew... But, she never mentioned a brother, so it's probably a coincidence. If he was, he'd be a son of Zeus. There's no way he'd have stayed here so long. Kids of the  _Big Three_ ...short life expectancies.” Luke explained, sounding a bit lost in memory for a moment.  
  
“Zhang, I think might just be wishful thinking on your part.” Luke winked, and Leo scowled.  
  
“I wouldn't wish this on him,” Leo hissed, to which even Luke looked surprised.  
  
“Being a demigod? No, Leo, no. You've got this all wrong. This  _isn't_ a curse, it's a blessing. As horrible as the Gods are, we now have the power to make actual difference in the world around us. Unlike the Gods. We can change everything!”  
  
“Or burn it, because that seems to be all my powers are good for. Destruction.” Leo grabbed a piece of paper that had been laying on the desk, and sent it to cinders. Luke watched passively.  
  
“Fire also replenishes, don't forget that. Ash makes the ground more fertile, new growth can happen. You can make that happen, with us. I'm not forcing you to do anything, regardless of what Nico might have told you. I told you already, right, you're not the only one around here with a bad reputation.”  
  
“He said you've killed people.”  
  
“I defended myself,” Luke said completely unfazed. “You know something about that, don't you?  
  
“Look, in regards to Zhang? Have a bit of fun, but it's better to end it sooner than later. You know he doesn't trust you, right? What would he do if he saw your powers, do you think he'd embrace you? Do you think he's going to leave his girlfriend for you?”  
  
“No, of course I don't.” Leo snapped. “But..he doesn't distrust me as much as he used to.”  
  
“Are you sure? Sure didn't look like it to me. I'm just trying to look out for you here. Even if he does trust you, he's going to leave you eventually...Things won't end well between you”   
  
Leo rolled his eyes. “You and literally every other person have all said the same thing, I know. I know.”  
  
“I don't think you do, Leo. Say in the _very_ unlikely situation you stay together. Everything is great, he accepts everything about you. You're in love. What do you think happens to mortal lovers of demigods? It doesn't end well. There are about 800 Greek tragedies about it, if you don't believe me.”  
  
For some reason the implications of that bothered Leo more than anything else Luke had said.  
  
“You're saying..I'm a danger to him?”  
  
“You're endangering him, yes. Demigods attract monsters, as you have probably already noticed.” Luke said plainly. “There are other men, other women, out there that would be better for you. Ones who would actually care about you.”  
  
Leo didn't bother speaking his thoughts on the matter, just pursed his lips and crossed his arms. Luke watched him for a moment before moving to stand up.  
  
“I think I've said my part for now, Leo. Go ahead, talk to Nico. Like I said, I'm confident you'll see things my way in the end. I'll see you later, Leo.”  
  
“Right,” Leo responded after a moment, standing up as well, and moving towards the door. “See you, Castellan.”  
  
As he walked down the hallway, it began to sink in the severity of the situation. Luke might not have hurt him physically, but he had just put him in a situation that Leo wouldn't win.   
Leo couldn't tell a word of it to Frank.  
  
\-   
  
  
“What'd he say?” Frank asked the moment Leo walked in. Leo shook his head, not knowing what to do. It wasn't like he could tell him the truth.   
  
Frank frowned, surprised at the reaction. “Are you seriously not going to tell me?”  
  
Leo kicked one of his makeshift toy tanks into the wall, and Frank shut up. Leo sat down on the bottom bunk, running his hands through his hair, trying to think.  
  
“I can't tell you. If you trust me even remotely, you won't ask again.” Leo said, knowing his voice was strained. The silence that followed was palpable.   
  
“ _Un_ believable.”   
  
Leo looked up, but wished he hadn't. The expression on Frank's face said enough. Distaste. Distrust.  _Dislike_ .  
  
“You, Valdez, are a class act. Just when I begin to think you're...You know what? No, I'm done. Suit yourself.” Frank said, bitterness evident. Leo bit his lip, looking towards the wall, anywhere but his face.  
  
“Sleep in your own bed, Valdez.” Frank's voice was hard, and it took every fiber of Leo's being to not beg him to take it back. He  _needed_ to be there, the closeness of it. He needed Frank.  
  
“Make me,” was what came from his mouth. Leo instantly regretted it. Even more so when Frank laughed.  
  
“No. I'm not playing that game tonight. Get up, get out.”  
  
Leo's fingers began to itch, and he felt pressure rising up inside his body.  
  
\---  
  
Frank awoke to the smell of smoke, and was up and out of bed instantly. He was met with the sight of all the little amazing things Leo... _Valdez_ had built, burnt down to nothing except for the occasional blackened paperclip.  
  
And Valdez sitting amongst the chaos.  
  
“What...,” Frank began, eyes wide in shock. “What the  _hell_ ?! What the fuck is wrong with you?”  
  
Valdez glanced up, face blank apart from the the bags under his eyes.  
  
“So many things,” he said flippantly.  
  
“Obviously,” Frank snarled, stalking towards him and grabbing Valdez by the jumper. He yarded him up, and shoved the smaller man hard against the wall.  
  
“If that had gotten out of hand, you could have not just killed your own dumb ass, you could have hurt _me_ and the other inmates. Do you think of anyone besides yourself? Is that even possible for you?!” Frank was yelling, and he could hear muffled mutterings from other cells beginning. The rumor mill worked quickly.  
  
Valdez glared, “let go.”  
  
Frank let his hands drop.   
  
“I was stressed out.” Valdez said simply.  
  
Both of them were surprised when Frank's fist landed.   
  
Valdez was back on the ground, looking up with a startled expression, grabbing at his now bleeding nose.   
  
“You  _hit_ me.”   
  
“I was stressed out,” Frank's voice was thick with anger. He'd never been more angry. He felt like there was a haze in his head, a red cloud, telling him to take Valdez by the throat and teach him a lesson. But, Frank had more control than that.   
  
Yesterday, Frank had spent the better part of two hours worrying about Valdez. Worried about his safety, worried he might say something stupid, worried that by himself he could be out numbered easily.   
He had been actually _relieved_ to see him, when Valdez came back, looking unharmed. Not the same though, he didn't look the same. His shoulders had been drawn tight, his muscles looked bound in stress and worry as much as Frank had felt.   
Valdez hadn't made eye contact, and seemed off. His fingers kept halfway closing, like he was fighting the urge to tap anything whatsoever.   
  
Frank regretted ever getting involved with someone like Valdez.   
He regretted asking him what had happened.   
Frank regretted now, having let Valdez go alone to talk to Castellan.   
Frank regretted ever allowing himself to feel anything for Valdez.   
  
“You are, by far, the most selfish human being I have ever met.”  
  
Valdez laughed, and it sounded hollow to both of them.   
  
“I am? I am? I asked you to  _trust_ me once, just once, and you....” Valdez shook his head. “Whatever. It's better this way.”  
  
“Don't,” Frank clenched his fist. “Don't do that. Don't you  _dare_ blame me. You've never given me a single reason to trust you, Valdez. I thought, I honestly thought we were working towards where I would be able to. But, you don't trust me. You don't want what I do, so, enough.”  
  
Valdez stood up in a flurry of motion, his face actually showing his anger.  
  
“You don't know what I want! You have no idea what I want! You made up your mind about me from day fucking one! I've  _always_ ....” Valdez took a breath, as blood dripped down from his chin.  
  
“Do you really think I don't trust you?” He whispered, and Frank felt the red cloud in his mind clearing.  
  
A memory of Valdez falling asleep on Frank's arm the night they first tried to go that next step. Frank realized his error, he may not have understood how Valdez' mind worked, but......he knew that at least on _some_ level Valdez did trust him. That he trusted him more than anyone else here, more than Percy more than Jason.  
  
“I'm sorry,” Frank said after a moment of reflection. “I'm sorry I hit you, and I'm sorry that I still can't trust you completely. I wish I could, I do. I know you...in some way do trust me, but I don't know how far it extends.”  
  
Valdez didn't say anything, just stiffly nodded once.  
  
“I don't know what's going on your head, because you won't tell me anything. I'll try to refrain judgment, Valdez, I will, but you don't make this fucking easy. If you ever, ever, burn anything in our room again, I will never speak to you again. I will have you removed from this cell. All contact between us will cease, and if I have to I will go to lengths to make certain I never so much as see you again. Do you understand?”  
  
Valdez sniffed, brushing a hand against his face to wipe away blood. “Sounds fair.”  
His voice cracked, and Frank hated himself a little.  
  
“..Do you want to sleep in my bunk?” Frank sighed, and Valdez nodded much faster that time.  
  
Frank didn't get to sleep easily, he also couldn't bring himself to move. Valdez had nearly instantly relaxed upon laying down next to him, and fell asleep quickly, though it didn't appear to be a restful sleep. His hands were drawn into balls, and his brows were drawn together even in his sleep.  
He wasn't lying about being stressed, that much was obvious.   
  
Frank just really wished he'd tell him why.  
  
Or, maybe he didn't. Maybe, he was looking for reasons to distance himself from Valdez.   
  
How much of his anger should have been directed at himself, rather than Valdez.  
  
'God help me', Frank thought to himself, 'I don't want to let him go.'   
  
  
\---  
  
The following week was tense. No one knew what to do or what to say, so they didn't do much in the way of speaking to one another. Everyone picked up on the mood, from Percy and Jason, to the other inmates and the security guards.   
The shift I tone within the facility was enough to put everyone else on edge as well. The only person who didn't seem particularly bothered was Luke, who was showing up more frequently.   
He wasn't speaking to Leo, just making his presence known throughout. Him popping up did nothing to improve Frank's mood, the moment he'd see the blond, he'd send Leo an angry look as though Leo was the reason Luke was around. Maybe he was.  
  
It got worse, seeing as Leo hadn't gotten the chance to speak to Nico yet, not about anything. Luke had delivered a small bomb of information, one that Leo was still trying to deal with. He couldn't understand it, while at the same time it made sense.   
Leo would find himself reading through the Mythology book over and over again, as though a new message would appear to him, magically explaining everything. How any of it could be real, how any of it could possibly exist and function within a modern day society.  
  
It would have been too much stress to handle, had Leo not had any respite from his worries. Frank and him had returned to having sex, and touching; but the short time in which it almost felt like they were _more_ than just sex, had faded.   
Leo had burned that bridge, and hated himself for it, but he hated Luke a lot more. He hated the Gods too, if they were real.   
  
Leo had just finished sucking off Frank, brushing the back of his hand against his mouth, leaning back to sit on the man's stretched out legs when he noticed it.  
  
An envelope, sticking just barely enough so Leo could see the corner. It had been in the drawer of the small side table that usually went unused. It wasn't large enough to work on, so Leo would build on the floors when he did.  
Leo didn't want to alert Frank, moving quietly to reach for the letter. Frank's eyes were closed, coming down from his high, though it was possible he just didn't want to look at Leo anymore.  
  
It was a small miracle that Frank didn't notice the quiet rustling as Leo looked inside.  
  
Leo frowned, eyes darting across the short note. Obviously Frank's mysterious girlfriend. Then he noticed the other included item.  
A picture. A photograph.   
She was pretty. Very pretty. A black girl, with warm skin a few shades darker than Leo's, with a nearly bronze sheen in what he imagined was afternoon sun. Her hair caught the light, big and bright with wild curls. Her eyes stood out the most, very light brown if not just gold. She looked like the kind of girl that would have normally got him tripping over himself.  
  
Leo didn't know how to feel though. Seeing her, knowing she was real..actually real. That Frank really had someone that was smart and beautiful to return to? Leo didn't know what to do with himself.  
He was angry, upset, sad, at himself, at Frank.  
  
He couldn't stop himself.   
  
“She's cute. She your girlfriend?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so, we reach the beginning.
> 
> Luke, to me, has always been an interesting character, because if not for Kronos..a lot of his anger was actually well founded. I've seen a few similarities between Luke and Leo, while not exactly similar personalities..Leo had many chances throughout the series in which he could have taken similar paths. And, in the end, they both were willing to sacrifice themselves to save everyone.   
> Now, I'm not going to rehash everything from PJO, plot wise. This story has changed enough things that it wouldn't entirely work, and so any prophecies that existed are going to be a bit different. 
> 
> I'm still planning for this to be around 10 chapters, and I can say right now that the actual prison break will not be the end of the story..there'll be a chapter or so after that. 
> 
> Forewarning right now though, future chapters of ANY story might be a bit slower, at least during March, because I'll be working on a contract project for a time.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this chapter gave me fits.  
>  I honestly intended to have this done a week ago, but..just so many things went wrong all around the same time. 
> 
> To start, my cats ruined my laptop keyboard to the point I ended up having to order a new one and install it myself. (they ripped off keys, including n and k which make writing a story with the name Frank in it very difficult)  
> Then, I had like a 2 day long headache which..just did not make writing easy. I wasn't even trying to write on this, I was just trying to complete actual work.  
> ...And then, the crowning moment. I completely finished this chapter. About 4 days ago.  
> And then my computer deleted the entirety of the story.   
> I was able to recover most of it, but I still lost a good couple thousand words. Noooot a good feeling.
> 
> So, this is basically a frankenstein monster of a chapter because even rereading and checking it, there are parts I forget if I included because I already fucking wrote it once and I'm not sure what I lost vs what I'm rewriting or rearranging.
> 
> I'm not going to quit this story or anything, it's nearly over anyway, but I kind of intended to finish Caged before I went back to my other stories or wrote anything new...but I think I need a break for a bit. (I also still need to finish my actual work, which I..have..been slightly ignoring.)
> 
> Anyway, this has been a very long note. Thanks to everyone still reading, the comments and kudos are well appreciated.

  
  
  
  


“Waiting for someone?”   
  
Frank turned away from the doorway he had been watching, to the source of the voice.  
  
Percy sat down with a plate of food, across the lunch table from Frank, nodding towards the entryway.   
  
“Leo's late, huh?”   
  
Frank frowned, not liking the fact Percy picked up on his mood that quickly. Not that it wasn't true, though; Valdez hadn't been that far behind Frank when they were heading towards lunch, but suddenly the other man was just gone. Frank had spent the last 5 minutes debating if he should leave his own lunch, and scour the halls; or if he should just stay, and chew out Valdez later.   
  
“He's probably just..goofing off somewhere. Or making new friends.” Frank grumbled, finally turning his attention completely away from the doorway.  
  
“Luke, I'm guessing? Are they a thing now?” Percy asked, making a bit of a face at the suggestion.  
  
“Not that I know of, but it isn't like he tells me much.” Frank answered, stabbing his mashed potatoes a bit harder than was warranted for something already mashed. He honestly didn't think Valdez was doing anything like that with Castellan, but there was an ugly jealous side of him that made him wonder.  
  
“I kind of doubt it, I mean...,” Percy waved his fork, “I'm not saying I know Leo that well...guy's mind is a beehive. But, it isn't like he really ever hid what you two were doing, I can't imagine he'd go out of his way to hide if he was sleeping with Luke.”  
  
Frank grimaced, and he had to fight to keep his lip from curling. “That's very reassuring, Percy, thank you.”  
  
Percy shrugged, smiling some, taking a swig of water. “I'm just saying, I think he likes you. I don't think he likes Luke. I know things between you haven't been...great recently, but to a outsider...Leo seems stressed, you know, maybe Luke is blackmailing him on something.”  
  
“Maybe.” Frank snorted, “but, I won't know until Valdez tells me. And, he isn't doing much of that.”  
  
Percy looked thoughtful for a moment, ignoring his own meal, as he contemplated Frank.  
  
“You know, you seemed like a good guy when we met. But, when I found out you were cheating on someone you supposedly loved...I guess I lost some respect for you.”  
  
Frank avoided Percy's eyes, he didn't need Percy to be telling him that....He had lost enough respect for himself as it was. This was..kind of sudden too, Percy usually didn't talk about this sort of stuff with Frank.  
  
“The more I see you though, the more I realize it isn't just about sex, is it? That's why you're upset, right? It's not what Leo's done, it's that you're upset with yourself.”  
  
Frank looked up at Percy in surprise, brows furrowing. “What are you saying, Percy?”  
  
“I think,” Percy started slowly. “I think, you have feelings for Leo. But, you don't want to. And more than being upset over him lying..or bending the truth, you're upset that you wanted to be able to trust him. You _wanted_ to trust him like you would someone you loved.”  
  
“That is ridiculous.” Frank snapped, nerves frayed. “I am not in love with Valdez.”  
  
Percy held up his hands in defense, “I'm not saying you are. Just, that..I think you like him more than you realized, and that maybe..a part of you wants to be in a place where you _do_ talk about things, and tell each other everything. Like, an actual couple.”  
  
“That is just....,” Frank shook his head, but couldn't continue speaking. Percy seemed to sense Frank's hesitation and backed off some.  
  
“Look, what do I know? I've never been in any long term relationships. That's..just how I see it. Maybe I'm the one projecting, because..you're my friend..and I don't really want to think of my friend cheating on his girlfriend..just for the sake of a random fling.”  
  
“No,” Frank sighed. “No, you're...you're probably more on the nose than..I'd like to admit. I..haven't taken the time to think about ..all of it. All of the ramifications. But, I think, when I was angriest..I finally realized I was ..angrier at myself.”  
  
Percy didn't say anything, just sent him a sympathetic look.  
  
“But, more over...I just have to wonder... _Where in the hell is he_?” Frank growled, looking back towards the entryway, and pretending he didn't hear Percy snicker.  
  
\----  
  
Leo had been kidnapped. Well, that was a bit dramatic.   
  
He had been lost in thought while working, and slower on the uptake when it came time to leave for lunch. Frank was ahead of him down the hallway, but he was tall enough Leo could easily make out his head above the crowd of other inmates. Leo was distracted enough watching Frank from the back of the crowd, he didn't notice the oddly shaped shadow down a corridor until a hand reached out and pulled him behind a wall.  
  
“ _Why_?! What possible reason could you have for greeting people like that?” Leo snapped at Nico who gave him a look saying he wasn't in the mood.  
  
“It's fun to scare people. Now, we need to talk about your talk with Castellan.” Nico said firmly, not missing a beat.  
Leo pushed him away and took a step back, snorting and rolling his eyes.  
  
“Yeah, I think we do. So, Nico, how long would it have taken for you to tell me the truth?”  
  
Nico sighed, “Leo, it isn't that simple.”  
  
“No, okay, you shut up for a minute.” Leo held up a hand, anger welling up. “You were going to let me go on..thinking I'm crazy? Letting me hurt people, hurting myself in the process? I didn't even know what I was, Nico. Do you have any idea what that's like?! To not know if you're even human?”   
  
“Yes!” Nico snapped, face contorting. “We _all_ do. It's something we all face. And that, the danger? That's why we don't tell you, we don't tell anyone unless there is _no_ other option..not until we get them back to camp. It's not safe for anyone. Don't think you're the only person who has suffered.”  
  
Leo laughed, “oh, I don't. I just don't understand why I'm the last to know. You've hurt your own cause, you know, I don't know if I should believe you..or Luke more.”  
  
Nico's jaw clenched. “For the record, I was not a fan of keeping this from you..or from Jason. It wasn't my call to make, and I should have tried to keep you from even speaking to Luke. I wanted you to know. If I had it my way, I’d shadow travel all four of you out of this place.”  
  
“Whose call is it, Nico? _The Gods_?” Leo stared at the other boy with an incredulous expression. “Why are you even here, why just you? Who the hell controls your hand?”  
  
Nico paused, looking at Leo carefully. Leo studied him right back, and it occurred to him that ..he didn't actually now anything about Nico. Not his age, nothing besides his name and his tendency to wear all black.  
  
“I can't say I shape my own fate, or destiny, Leo. There are things none of us have control over, but I’m not brainwashed...I'm not blindly following orders. I work with my friends and fellow demigods at Camp Half Blood. No one is controlling what I do, or do not say. I make that choice based on the information I am given, and how it will impact the relationships with the people I know. When I say it wasn't my choice to make, it's because I know people who have more insight and who are usually smarter than me. It isn't because I am someones lacky.” Nico said calmly.  
  
“Who?” Leo asked simply, knowing that Nico would understand the question.  
  
“The person mostly in charge for investigating Luke's motives and plans is a girl named Annabeth Chase. She's known him longer than anyone, she knows..saw how he changed. She's a daughter of Athena, and..if you know anything about Athena..well she takes after her mom. Annabeth is in charge of a larger group of demigods at camp, and is one of the few people who have ever been to Olympus. Repeatedly.” Nico ticked off on his fingers. “Secondly, would be the whole of the Hunters of Artemis. They're girls, ageless, and roam the country. They don't particularly have any allegiances to anyone besides themselves and Artemis.”  
  
Leo raised an eyebrow, “immortal girls dedicated to a goddess. Nice. But, how do _you_ know them?”  
  
“One is my sister.” Nico said, not looking entirely pleased about it.   
  
“So, they're not..daughters of Artemis?”  
  
“Virgin Goddess, no children.” Nico nodded.  
  
“Wait, wasn't Athena too? I think I read that somewhere....” Leo frowned in thought.  
  
“It's...,” Nico sighed loudly, “it's complicated. Do you really want to know all of this? Right now?”  
  
Leo hummed, shaking his head. “No, I want to now who Kronos is, and why Luke wants to take down all of the current Gods.”  
  
“Luke wants to destroy Olympus and create a new capitol for the Titans. For Kronos, who he attempts to revive. His feelings towards the Gods are.....well, a lot of us are sympathetic. I don't know any demigods who aren't pissed off at the Gods at least...most of the time. Most of them are distant, and most of us _have_ suffered because of it. But, Luke's methods are...wrong. He's willing to chance the destruction of humanity, the deaths of demigods, to bring back Titans..who care even less about us than the Gods. I know a couple children of Titans, who definitely do not side with their parents for that very reason. Don't think there are _only_ demigods out there.”  
  
“This week just keeps getting better and better. You know I have to hand it to you, you guys found a way to make prison even more unbearable.” Leo sighed. He had a long list of questions, he was now having trouble remembering which was which and when to ask.  
  
“Basically, Luke was taken advantage of due to his legitimate anger, and feelings towards the Gods. That's the short story, but it's more complicated than that. We aren't entirely certain even if Luke is all....Luke anymore. Look, how you fall on the line of..pro-Gods, or how you feel about Camp Half Blood and other demigods; that isn't what we're talking about here. You don't have to join us, like us, like anyone involved. I'm not going to tell you that you have to side with us, but siding with Luke is basically voting in favor of the apocalypse.”  
  
“Okay, worst case, best case. Lay it out.” Leo gestured for Nico to continue.  
  
“Best case?” Nico cocked an eyebrow, to which Leo nodded. “Best case is Luke fails before he manages to revive any major Titans, the world isn't thrown into chaos. You, continue on to live the rest of your days as you normally would. Of course, as a powerful demigod, you'll always be targeted and..your life expectancy as a lone demigod is not very long.”  
  
“Oh, joy!” Leo faked a grin. “With prospects like that, what could the worst case be?”  
  
“Worst case is Luke succeeds, Kronos wins. Humans are killed or enslaved. Demigods slaughter each other, before being killed by the Titans regardless of their side..because the Titans will not permanently tolerate even the demigods who side with them.” Nico's tone was serious, a young man who had to grow up too early; that was something Leo understood, even when the rest of it sounded ludicrous.  
  
“That sounds...less than good. But, you know I don't really have any way of..proving what you're saying, right?” Leo asked, earning a sigh from the other young man.  
  
“The likelihood of us managing to stop everything Luke's put in place isn't high. I can only hope we'll manage to stop him before the worst comes to be, but in all honesty Leo..you can expect to see disasters..you can expect to see more deaths before all this is said and done. That should be proof enough, even if you don't believe me now...as the days move on, it'll become harder and harder to ignore.”   
Nico looked tired, more tired than usual which was saying something. Leo couldn't say much about whomever Nico was working with, but there was no reason to doubt that the stakes were high. The stress of it was already showing.  
  
“Alright,” Leo gave a small nod to let Nico know he understood. “About the break out...when is it coming, and what happens after?”  
  
“It'll be soon. My guess is within the next month, unless circumstances change, but from what I've heard..Luke's people on the outside are gathering in the state. They'll be meeting him, maybe helping him get out when the time comes, along with the rest of his followers and soldiers within the prison.” Nico explained, continuing. “In regards to the after, well.. when the date grows closer, I'll let you know. If we get information in regards to the how, I'll let you know. Not just you, Jason as well. I don't think it'll be a small event. Luke's looking to make a scene, a show of power. You might need to be able to think of your feet, and I can't promise you'll come out unscathed. Then, I'll find you, or my friends will.”  
  
Leo exhaled and ran a hand through his hair. This really wasn't what he had signed up for, granted he didn't sign up for anything in the first place...But it was looking like he wouldn't get a choice in the matter.   
So, might as well go along for the ride.  
  
“So, tell me about this camp of yours.”  
  
\----  
  
Lunch was almost over by the time Valdez got there, not acting like he had even been gone when he sat down.  
  
“What?” He said finally, looking up at the stares (and glares) Percy and Frank were sending his way.  
  
“Frank was worried about where you might have disappeared of to,” Percy said less than helpfully.   
  
“I wasn't worried!” Frank yelped, which only got Valdez fluttering his eyelashes at him.  
  
“Aw, that's sweet.” Leo-...Valdez said in a mockingly nice tone of voice, one that had Frank about ready to slam his head into the plate of potatoes in front of him. “A little birdie came to talk to me.” Valdez said, before Frank had the opportunity to say anything.  
  
“Birdie?” Percy asked curiously. “Like, what, a blue jay?”  
  
“They don't have Blue Jays on the west coast, Percy. Only Steller.” Frank answered without even really thinking about it.   
  
“.... _Oh_ my god, you're such a nerd.” Valdez said, astonished. Even Percy's stare looked a bit judgmental.  
  
“I'm from New York, you should be happy I know any other birds besides pigeons.” Percy said, and Frank shrugged a shoulder, sending him a mildly apologetic look.   
  
“With that settled, all decided, Frank is a big dweeb..we can continue onto more pressing matters. I had a little chat with a ghostiegoo.” Leo said flippantly, waving his spoon, flinging off little bits of food.   
  
“Ooh,” Percy hummed. “What'd he say?”  
  
“Nothing good, I’d wager.” Frank said lowly, “I'm also guessing we won't hear the full details either, will we?”  
  
“Well, you're not wrong, on both accounts. Though, he didn't have much to say in regards to what is soon to come, just that it'll be in the next month. Probably.” Leo said, side eying Frank the entire time.  
  
“Yes, it took you that long to say just that much between yourselves.” Frank rolled his eyes.  
  
“We also took time to braid each others hair, talk about boys, and practice kissing.” Valdez said, no humor in his voice, though it got a chuckle from Percy.   
  
“You two,” Percy began, shaking his head. “You two..just need to sort out whatever _this_ is. You've both got trust issues that could fill the whole of the Cold War, but you're upset neither one of you trusts the other. Can you really not see how stupid it is, demanding trust while not extending it? Try having a little faith for once.”  
  
Neither Valdez nor Frank said anything, averting their gaze from one another. Percy sighed, standing up to take his empty tray to the trash.  
  
“I know this isn't the best place for it, Prison isn't the most...trustworthy environment, but...at this rate..well, you're going to end up apart with a million things to say. If there is something you want to tell them, then say it. Don't let it forever be a regret. Now, I've got to go piss and get back to work, see you guys later.” Percy finished his speech in a spectacular manner, before waving and walking out of the room.  
  
“He's..not wrong.” Frank started awkwardly, feeling like he was more in a terrible teen movie than prison.  
  
“No, but he's got some massive set of cojones to say that, while hiding some secrets of his own.” Valdez huffed, though he looked a bit more relaxed.  
  
“It doesn't really change anything does it, we're still..where we are. Aren't we?” Frank sighed, not having eaten much of his food, and unlikely to finish it. Valdez shook his head, but looked sympathetic about it.  
  
“There's a difference between things that should be said and aren't..and wanting to say something..that can't be said. No matter how much you may want to...how much you know you'll regret not saying anything. Somethings aren't so easy to change.”  
  
Frank wasn't sure what all Valdez was referring to, if it was about Luke..or Nico, about his own past...or maybe Valdez..had feelings for him.   
  
“Just...Just tell me that this isn't to protect me.” Frank nearly whispered, he needed to know that Luke wasn't threatening Valdez by using him. _That_ would be a regret he wouldn't let stand.  
  
“Mm, no. I trust you can handle yourself, big guy. This is...you wouldn't understand. You just wouldn't understand.” Valdez pushed his own tray away, food nigh untouched.  
  
“Well, at least that..I can understand.” Frank admitted, he knew there were things he couldn't tell Valdez...magic, monsters..shape shifting into an entire beehive. You can't really just spring that on someone. Especially someone normal.   
..Hazel was the only person who could understand Frank's experience, the life they lived together. Frank couldn't keep this up, staying here, ignoring that life while pretending to pretend. He was living a lie, in every way. Lying to everyone around him here, lying to himself...lying to the person he loved most.  
  
“You understand not understanding?” Valdez asked, with a small smirk. Frank snorted, trying not to laugh.  
  
“Don't get cheeky.”  
  
Whatever Valdez was going to say, was cut off by a guard walking up to their table.  
  
“Zhang, you've got your scheduled call. Valdez, you get to come with me to the laundry room for cleaning duty.”  
  
“Oh joy,” Valdez rolled his eyes, standing up. “Tell your lovely lady I say, 'hello'.” Valdez winked before leaving with the guard.   
  
Frank didn't know what to possibly say to Hazel, but he would still go to her.  
  
\-----  
Leo was actually glad for getting laundry duty, he thought while walking done the hallway with the guard escorting him. Otherwise he would have likely fixated on Frank, and more importantly Frank and Hazel.  
In the midst of everything, horrible and serious, he still felt like a dumb teenager with a crush.  
But, on laundry duty, at least he had a reprise from all things Frank and Hazel. At the very least he'd have something to do with his hands, instead of thinking what Frank could be telling her, talking to her about.   
...  
...What was their back story; when did they meet; why did Frank fall in love with her; how did they function as a couple; did they live together; how often did they have sex, and was it more or less than him and Frank?  
  
Yes, it was a good thing he was very much _not_ thinking about these things.  
  
Leo greeted another guard who was waiting outside the laundry room, who nodded him in.  
  
“You're here until your cellmate comes and picks you up. Don't leave before that, _don't steal anything_. There _are_ video cameras and staff nearby.” The guard said firmly, likely having heard of Leo's misadventures with buildables.  
  
“Gotcha, chief.” Que finger guns.   
  
-  
  
He worked in peace for awhile, the tumbling of the clothes made enough background noise to quiet his own mind some.  
The laundry room itself was a plain room, the size of a normal office; with industrial sized washers against one wall, and counters to fold on, and plenty of large rolling cart hampers for delivery and removal of new or worn clothes.   
  
All that, said and done, was fine, but Leo was relatively relieved when he heard the door open behind him. He threw the last load in, hit a button, and turned around to greet Frank.   
  
Except, it wasn't Frank.  
  
4 guys walked in, obviously from the same gang that had given him trouble before. This was beginning to get tiring.  
Leo snorted watching them file in, leaning up against one of the industrial washers, all looking shifty but at the same time trying (and failing) to give off a bit of that menacing cartel aura.   
  
“You guys just can't get enough, can you?” Leo sighed, moving his hands to his hips. “You lot have serious problems if you repeatedly can't take down a single scrawny guy. I mean, at some point, you've got to ask if _you're_ not the problem here, instead of me.”  
  
“Shut up,” snapped one of the guys at him, looking a bit uneasy. “Come on, get on with it.” The same man turned to his buddies, hissing under his breath.   
Whatever they were about to do, they didn't want to be caught doing. Interesting.  
  
That was when Leo noticed the dufflebag one was carrying, and his curiosity was piqued.  
  
“Ooh, what's that? Laundry? A dead body? Weed? Oh, I know. Puppies!?” Leo asked excitedly, taking a few steps forward, receiving a disgruntled look.   
  
They opened the bag and pulled out a series of plastic bottles, the kind they gave out here for bottled water, but were obviously _not_ filled with water.  
Leo blanched.  
  
“Is that piss? That's disgusting. We're in prison, but we're not animals, man.”  
  
“It's not piss, you fuck face. It's payback.” A portlier guy growled out, grabbing one of the laundry hampers and dumping the contents of one of the bottles inside.  
  
And then he pulled out a lighter, and the hamper went up in flames.  
  
“Gasoline,” Leo remarked in realization, though not fear. “I get it. I burn your guys, you burn me. Well thought out plans, guys.”   
  
“Don't try to stop us!” Another yelled, pointing a judgmental finger as they went around the room setting things ablaze.   
  
Leo leaned back again, and crossed his arms.   
  
“ _I'm not_ ,” he said in a mocking sing song tone. “Go ahead. I'll be the witch, you be the ignorant village people. It'll be fun, you've already got the ignorant part down!”  
  
For good measure, the fat guy walked up with a nasty look on his face, and made a show of tossing some of the oil on Leo's jumper. Leo watched on, utterly bored.   
  
By the time they had dumped out all the fluid, once they would lite it there was no doubt that room would be ablaze. The heat of it would have probably been nearing intolerable ..or it would have been, if Leo wasn't heatproof.   
As it was, this was like throwing a pebble at a gargoyle.  
  
It was good in a way, he thought; once he _miraculously_ survived this whole encounter, there was _no_ way Trituradora was going to mess with him ever again.  
  
So Leo just relaxed, and waited for their hurling insults to stop, lite the mess, and then for them to run out of the room before they themselves caught on fire. Once they did just that, Leo briefly watched the men run out of the room, ignoring the rather vivid Spanish insults they were hurling at him. After they left, he waved a hand through the fire, like it was water.  
Then, he leisurely walked over to the door;  his prison jumper was burning off, but not his skin, and he rattled the door.  
  
“Locked. Golly. How _ever_ shall I survive?” Leo moaned melodramatically to no one. It was so completely ridiculous, and he dealt with so very much ridiculous in his life.  
  
Then he coughed, and realization sunk it.   
  
“Oh god,” Leo whispered, feeling the smoke enter his lungs like a coiled snake.  
  
He was _such_ an idiot.  
  
He was immune to the fire, but not to the fumes and definitely not to the fact the flames were eating up all the oxygen in the room.  
  
Leo slammed on the door a few times with his fists, but was too afraid to actually yell loudly for help. His anxiety didn't help matters, his own body began to produce licks of flames; it fed and made the other flames in the room grow.   
  
He couldn't get a deep breath.  
His vision began to swim, and before he realized it, his legs also gave out.   
He couldn't breathe.   
  
He was..going to die?  
Like this?   
Like his mother?   
  
Leo slammed his fist, as hard as he could, which wasn't very at this point.  
  
Then, thank god, he heard a yell on the other side of the door. The voice of a guard.   
  
“ _We're getting the door open now, just hang on!_ ”  
  
Leo looked around the room, but he couldn't see beyond the dark smoke and flames. Realization struck again, and if he could, he would have wept.   
This was it. He had to make the choice now, to live and be responsible for the death of others..or die here.  
  
“ _Don't_ open the door,” Leo yelled in what little voice he had, but it was enough because he heard the guard stop.  
  
“ _What?! Why?_ ”  
  
“Backdraft.”  
  
\---  
  
It had taken longer than usual to get his call with Hazel set up, which left Frank twiddling his thumbs for a number of minutes.   
Apparently there had been a downed tree, or something that hit power lines, that had their systems messed up and computers that needed to be rebooted and phone connections that needed to be rerouted; or, that was their excuse anyway. They were probably just on their own lunch break and forgot about it.  
  
Not that Frank minded hugely, while he was eager to hear from Hazel, he welcomed the longer break from Valdez.   
Everything was just _so_ tense, and so stressful, and Percy's comments didn't exactly help anything. The whole situation already felt like he was going through a complicated break up, with so many ups and downs. For every good moment, there were 5 bad ones. For any happiness came more guilt and pain.  
  
Frank was _so_ messed up, just the thought of it being a 'breakup', made him a bit happy; as though there was a time they had actually been dating. The last month, Frank had either spent his time wondering what it would be like to be out and free and actually..maybe seeing Valdez; or the other half of his time, spent pretending this was all some long horrible fever dream, and wishing he had never met Valdez.  
Still, he couldn't help but occasionally have dreams, ones where him..Hazel .. _and_ Valdez were together. Watching a movie, or just talking, or..things a bit steamier. In the dreams, it felt good, it felt _right.._ When it was in the moment, but he'd wake up unhappy.  
  
But Frank knew, hearing Hazel's voice would center him. It would remind him what he had, actual memories of a real relationship.   
He couldn't stay here much longer. Everything that had happened in the last few days, it was just proof of something that Frank had been putting off for far too long. The good times and the bad times all pointed him in the same direction.  
  
Early on, Frank had convinced himself he needed to be here, he needed to keep suspicion off himself. Then, he convinced himself that he was here because of the mysteries surrounding the prison; Nico di Angelo, Luke Castellan, even Leo Valdez.   
But, deep down, occasionally Frank realized it wasn't really his business. That, he could try harder to find a spot alone...turn into a rat or something small and just. Escape. It could be simple.  
  
Frank hadn't wanted to admit it to himself. He didn't want to talk about it with Hazel. Some horrible, selfish, cruel place inside of him wanted the time he had here. Frank hated the prison itself, but...still.  
It wasn't just about wanting Valdez, which he did, it was about..sort of having friends.  
Percy, Jason, ….Valdez when he wasn't being a shit. Frank hadn't had many friends when he was younger, before all of this business with monsters started. Then, it was just him and Hazel. And she was, definitely, his best friend. His best friend, and the person he loved more than himself.   
But, it couldn't be just them forever, right?  
He never wanted to be someone on the road his entire life, only ever being able to trust one other person. That sort of thing sounded fine in practice, or on TV or video games, but it was lonely. It was a hard life, it was a lonely life..even when you were spending it with someone you love.  
  
Frank had realized that, maybe the reason Hazel liked hearing about Valdez and other going ons inside of the prison was...she was lonely too. She was as alone, as deprived of other human beings as he was. Neither of them was that old, and Hazel was younger than him even. There were people their age still living at home, hanging out with friends, going out to dinner and the movies normally..going to college or otherwise just living their lives.   
Frank and Hazel had none of that.   
It had been alright, for awhile, but...not anymore.  
  
These thoughts, they kept him here...far longer than he needed to be.  
But...no more. Maybe it sounds counter intuitive, to realize you're lonely, only to end up leaving..but it really wasn't. Because this situation wasn't normal. It wasn't fair to Hazel, and it wasn't really what Frank wanted, to be a normal young adult. It was a sham, a fake reality of an ideal that he'd never have. Like it or not, his life was not normal. It never would be, and he definitely couldn't have everything he wanted.  
  
So, this time, he'd tell her to meet him on the outside.   
This time, for sure, Frank was done with this place.  
  
Or....That's what he thought up until the alarm bells started blaring, and red lights began to flash along the walls like the world was ending.  
  
Frank was up and out of the room in and instant, looking around frantically until he spotted a female staff member running down the hall towards him..   
  
“What's going on?” Frank yelled, his voice trying to beat out the sound of the sirens. Was it the break out? Had it happened? Was that what Nico had told Valdez?  
  
“A fire!” The lady yelled, and Frank's blood and thoughts froze.   
  
“Where?!”  
  
“In the laundry-... _oh_. Oh, you're his roommate.” The female guard trailed off, her voice growing quieter as she looked over Frank, realizing who he was.   
  
Just as quickly as it froze, Frank's blood turned to a boil and a red haze came over his vision.  
  
“ _Valdez_ ,” he snarled and ran off towards the laundry room, not caring that the woman behind him was yelling at him to stop.  
Not hearing her yell that it was too late.  
  
-  
  
The sight that met Frank wasn't what he had been expecting.  
  
Instead of a minor fire, something Valdez would do to piss someone off, the reality of the situation seemed far more severe. Billowing clouds of dark smoke was pouring out from the cracks around the door to the laundry room.   
Guards, doctors, other staff were all gathered around the door talking in frantic tones. It looked like the entirety of the prison staff had turned up, though Frank realized some must have been off keeping the inmates away.  
There was one inmate present besides himself though, Jason was against the back wall, bent down with his head on his knees...expression hidden.  
  
Frank had to ignore him for now, and ran up to the guards, and more than one looked up at him with fear in their eyes. Maybe a few, sympathy.  
  
“Where is he? Is Valdez still in there?!” No one answered, it was obvious enough. Frank felt his anger growing higher inside his body, nearly beating out the fear.  
  
“Why haven't you opened the door! Get him out of there!” Frank shouted, moving towards the door, but he was blocked by more than one bulky guard.  
  
“ _Move_!” His tone was convincing enough, that a few people started to move out of the way, but the rest stood still.  
  
“We can't!” One said finally, looking agonized as he spoke. “I was going to, but Valdez told me not to.”  
  
“Valdez told you?! He's a fucking idiot, get out of the way, or open the fucking door!” Frank snarled at those who denied him.  
  
“Backdraft!” The guard yelled, and Frank stopped moving. His heart felt like it had just been thrown into the darkest depths of the ocean.   
  
Living the life he did, with the curse he had, Frank knew quite a bit about fire. He knew about backdraft, or flashback, caused by fire in enclosed spaces finally being exposed to oxygen. The flames would go to the air source, often in explosive ways. It was dangerous enough, it could still kill even seasoned firefighters, and the chance of survival for someone in the enclosed space or room with the fire..was unlikely.  
  
“He said...I can't open the door, because of the backdraft. He's right. _I'm sorry_ , but he's right. It's too dangerous.”   
  
“Valdez will..He'll ..die if we don't do something.” Frank's attention was firm on the door, on Valdez who..may or may not still be alive behind it.  
  
“Son, he's probably already gone. If we open the door before the fire dies out, we chance more people dying or getting severely injured. We can't take that chance.” One of the prison doctors, an older man, said and didn't look happy about having to say it.  
  
A hand landed on Frank's shoulder, and for a second Frank hoped he'd turn and see Valdez grinning like the manipulative asshole he was.  
But it was Percy. He hadn't seen Percy before. Percy who looked near tears.  
  
“Frank, I'm sorry. I'm really..really sorry, but there isn't-”  
  
“I'll do it.” Frank announced, pushing away from Percy who looked surprised. Then he noticed Jason, head up, and watching Frank with red eyes.  
Valdez had more people than just Frank, more friends. He wasn't the only one who cared, so he had to do it.  
  
“If the problem is you don't want to risk staff, then get the fuck back. I'll open the door. Everyone else, get out of the hallway. Go around the corner wall, have medics ready once the fire dies down. And... If I die, then that's on me.” Frank announced, remembering suddenly he hadn't actually gotten the chance to talk to Hazel again, but he tried to push that back. If he survived, then he could feel guilty.  
  
Everyone exchanged glances, and then they began to leave around the hallway where they'd be safe. The older doctor gave one last look at Frank, before mouthing, 'good luck.'  
  
Frank glanced to see Percy and Jason still standing there.  
  
“I'm not leaving him. Leo is my friend.” Jason announced, and Frank noticed there were fire extinguishers everywhere, brought and left by the other staff.   
  
“Might as well go out with a bang, if we're going to.” Percy announced, and nodded at Jason and both grabbed an extinguisher.  
“These will help, right?”  
  
“Probably,” Jason shrugged.  
  
“Just...stand behind me. Fire is going to go towards the oxygen, so when I open the door...that's where it's going to go. So, we're going to be behind the door, against the wall to the side; _not in front_ of it.” Frank addressed his friends, and the other two men nodded and moved towards the wall behind where the door would open.  
  
Frank sighed and crouched down in front of the door. “Valdez, I don't know if you can hear me, but if you can..don't stand in front of the door. I know you'd probably appreciate it, but you don't want to be infront of the explosion when it happens.”  
  
He stood, looked to Percy and Jason, and nodded.   
As a last minute thought Frank realized that the door handle would undoubtedly burn the hell out of his palm. So Frank shrugged off a shoulder of his jumped and pulled completely off his white wife beater and wrapped it around his hand in hopes it would lessen the chances of third degree burns, then pulled the jumped back up. Hopefully he wouldn't end up too singed..or..dead.  
  
“Ready on three....two....one-”  
  
Frank pulled, and the door slammed open with a vengeance, as the flames burst out from the contained room. He had to shut his eyes, because the heat was so intense Frank was actually afraid he might burn them.  
The next thing that happened was both Percy and Jason's fire extinguishers went off around him, and partially coated him in cold wet foam. Percy threw down his empty canister first, then Jason, and grabbed another one, moving into the room and blasting everything down as best they could. It didn't take very long, but the room itself looked like something out of the apocalypse  
  
The flames died down quickly, they didn't have anything else to feed them in a cement hallway, even with the added oxygen.   
Frank rushed inside and nearly tripped over the body.  
  
There were literally no words that could capture how very happy he was to see Valdez, and how extremely confused he was to see absolutely no burns on his body.   
But, Valdez was still collapsed on the ground, unmoving.   
Frank fell to his knees, and went to roll him over, yelling for the Percy to go get the medics.  
  
Valdez looked fine, apart from soot, apart from being naked for no apparent reason....but his eyes were closed and his body limp.   
  
He wasn't breathing.  
  
The moment Frank realized that, he was preparing to do CPR, but didn't get the chance before the doctors were around them both.   
They had oxygen masks, and breathing apparatus for Leo.   
Other doctors pulled Frank away, trying to treat his own injuries, burns on his hands and arms that he hadn't even noticed.   
But, he couldn't look away. Time seemed to slow, as they tried to get him breathing again.  
  
Frank realized it was too late, he had taken too long. Leo wasn't breathing. It seemed like he watched for hours, as they forced his lungs to take in oxygen, to no avail.   
  
It was only a minute or two, but it seemed like hours.  
  
And then Leo started breathing again, on his own, and Frank passed out.   
  
-  
  
Frank woke up in the medical ward, on a hospital bed that was much too small for him, with annoying little beeps coming from all directions.   
  
“Hey, buddy. You up?” A voice filtered in, and Frank's eyes focused on Percy's face. Frank grumbled, wincing as he tried to push himself up into a sitting position.  
  
“Don't push it, man. Leo wasn't the only one who got a lung full of smoke.” Percy smiled softly, as Frank's eyes widened.  
  
“Where's-,” Frank stopped to cough, and it tasted horrible. “Where is Leo?” He finally managed to croak out.  
  
Percy grinned and stood up, revealing another hospital bed behind him that had been partially hidden by a curtain.   
Jason was there, on the other side of the far bed, having been eclipsed by Percy.  
  
And there on the bed was Leo, sleeping..more thankfully _breathing_ , peacefully.   
  
“He's fine. I mean...not great, he stopped breathing for....awhile. But, he'll be okay. Just some rest and relaxation. No burns or anything, which literally none of us can figure out. Doctors are all confused too” Percy said with an easy tone.  
  
“Leo's woken up a few times, here and there, but he's on some pretty serious medication...He called me barney once.” Jason said quietly, obviously not wanting to disturb Leo's rest.   
  
“But, Percy's right. He'll be fine. The doctors were actually pretty surprised there doesn't seem to be more damage, even internally. Leo's tough. He'll pull through just fine, next week he'll be back to annoying you.”  
  
Frank didn't say anything, just watched Leo's chest rise and fall for a minute.  
  
“Did they...do they know who set the fire? Was it..It wasn't him, was it?” Frank asked after a minute, not even knowing how to feel.  
  
“No. It was Trituradora. They fessed up, mostly because they were scared. They weren't expecting Leo to come out alive or unscathed. I think they're setting up ..shrines or something to him now. They're acting like he's a saint, or a deity. It's kind of weird. But, the guys who did it have been moved to another prison, under tighter security. Can't really do more than that, we're all already in prison.” Percy explained, which had Frank frowning but..for now content.  
  
Maybe a little too content, because he quickly slipped back into slumber.  
  
-  
  
Frank woke up again, hours later, to the sound of tapping.  
  
'I love you,' they said.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this was like a fire safety announcement more than anything.
> 
> Stay in school kids, and remember, only you can prevent prison fires!


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> revelations and reservations, and Leo meets Hazel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Caged gives me more computer troubles than any other story I've ever worked on, I just don't understand. I usually write in openoffice, because for awhile I didn't have Word. Now I do, but I usually only use Word for things that specifically require that file type. But, while writing this, openoffice just up and stopped inputting text. 97 pages in. just, quit. So I moved it to Word, and that's fine and dandy and all ..it was all just exceedingly strange. 
> 
> I'm putting this up unedited for now, so later today i might retouch it, but I have to be somewhere in like 5 minutes.

  
  
  
  
The room around him was a state of static, loud and constant like a bad migraine. But, in a strange way it was comforting, familiar even. To Leo, it reminded him of home, his first and only; all places that followed were just houses…but none were home. But this place, it wasn't his home either; it was superficial like a theater set.  
  
A figure came into view, with a fierce beard and a nastier face. The man seemed bothered by Leo's presence, and maybe he had the right to be. Leo had no idea how he had gotten here…where even was here? What happened? Where had he been last? It was all static.  
  
The man opened his mouth to say something, but it was muted and unintelligible.   
  
Everything began to fade around him, until the static and the man were gone completely.   
  
Then, there was a girl. A pretty girl, one Leo thought he ought to know. She was alone. Her name was right at the tip of his tongue.   
  
Her eyes were so gold. He knew her, didn't he? Her hair color, her skin tone. He knew her...or maybe he didn't. Someone knew her, certainly.  
  
She too, opened her mouth to speak. But, this time, Leo heard.  
  
'Sammy?'  
  
And then she faded away, or maybe he was...her expression seemed so surprised.   
Leo found himself waking up, and wasn't thrilled about it.  
  
It was a sensation more repugnant than stepping in dog shit while in socks. Worse than stepping on a lego block. Worse yet, than getting a wedgie in public places. Leo would have happily taken a stranger sneezing directly onto the back of his neck while on the subway, over this particular moment. He would have taken all of those sensations over this one.  
But, for the life of him, Leo didn't know why.  
His body felt like elephants used it as a trampoline; and _fuck_ cotton mouth, Leo felt like an entire sheep died in his mouth.  
  
Then the beeping sunk in, the infernal beeping.   
  
Leo gurgled unhappily, cracking his eyes open before immediately regretting it. It was bright and for some reason opening his eyes made the beeping seem all the more loud.  
As off as he was, Leo didn't take long to notice he was in a hospital room of some sort. It took a bit longer than that to remember he should have been in prison cell, not here.  
With a sucked in breath, a furrowed brow, and nervous hands, Leo remembered how he ended up here. The fire, the feeling of suffocating.   
The realization this was not the first time he had woken up, either. Not that he could remember anything very well, it was all a blur of lights and sounds. Whatever meds they had him on worked well enough.  
  
A coughing fit overtook his body, and boy did it hurt. Leo rolled over onto his side, or tried to anyway, it didn't work very well with a stupid IV attached to his arm. Blearily, Leo grabbed the hose and tugged it out. Leo wanted nothing more than to curl into a ball, on the uncomfortable hospital bed sheets, in his uncomfortable hospital gown. This situation, he'd been in before, when his mother died. Leo was no fan of hospitals.  
  
A hand landed softly on his shoulder, startling Leo enough to crack open his eyes to peer up at the offending individual.  
“Hey, hey. It's okay.” A soft voice filtered down, melodic almost. Sea green eyes were unmistakable.  
  
“..Percy?” Leo croaked, throat protesting. Percy smiled, nodding.  
  
“You must be feeling better. This is the first time you haven't called me Harry Potter or Ariel.”  
  
Leo coughed out a laugh, body also protesting. How could muscles feel so tight after doing nothing but being passed out for…who knows how long.  
  
“I don't think you should have pulled out your IV though, I should get one of the nurses...” Percy muttered, not exactly directing the comment at Leo. Leo shook his head to the negative.  
  
“ _Don't_. I want to be cognizant of my surroundings for… more than a minute.” Talking wasn't pleasant. Why did he think such a long sentence was a good idea. Why did his brain betray him like this.  
  
“Leo, it has pain medication in it...I think you probably need it.” Percy sighed, but didn't make any moves to go get the nurse. “I'm guessing you're not going to budge on this are you?”  
  
Leo shook his head to the best of ability. He needed what little of his wits was left still  
  
“That's ...well, we need to talk anyway. You've been out on and off for awhile. Just be glad they didn't need to use a catheter on you.”  
  
Leo blanched, before he realized what Percy had _actually_ said.  
  
“Talk?...are Frank and Jason okay?” He didn't know why they wouldn't be, but why was Percy here and not them?   
What had happened between him passing out and now?  
  
“They're fine. Frank had a few minor burns, but he was released after 2 days. That's not what we need to talk about.”  
  
Leo stared at Percy, a sinking feeling developing in his gut. Percy Jackson. There was something off about him, there always had been.   
  
“C-can we…do this later? I'm kind of tired.” Leo feigned.  
  
Percy stared long and hard, before nodding. “Don't think you're off the hook. We'll talk more tomorrow.”  
  
Leo didn't bother responding, just curled up further into a ball.  
  
“You're not human …are you?” Percy's voice filtered in from the doorway, but he didn't wait for an answer before leaving.   
  
Percy Jackson was not as stupid as he seemed. Percy Jackson, something said in the back of his mind…he could be a threat. He could be dangerous.   
One of Luke’s comments made its way into the forefront of his mind.  
  
“I'm not.” Leo said simply, softly to no one. “Neither are you, are you?”  
  
-  
  
Percy returned the next morning but didn't say much of anything a first. Leo knew he hadn't bought himself much time, but it had been too much, and was still too much. But, what could he do, he was stuck here in a hospital room inside a prison…not many options were open to him. Leo wished somehow magically Frank or Jason would show up first, like the movie heroes they were, but his wish went unfounded.  
  
“Do you remember last night at all, Leo?” Percy asked. It was easy enough to see that Leo's IV was still unattached, the nurses and doctors here didn't care all that much about pain management for their prisoners. Enough to keep them alive, and that was about it.  
  
“I do...and I think you already know my answer.” Leo said, with just a quiver of fear laced in his tone. Percy sighed, sitting down on one of the guest chairs.  
  
“I figured as much...I don't know all that much about this stuff, but I get the feeling you and Luke do. I know I can't trust Luke, so that raises the question…” Percy trailed off, locking eyes with Leo.   
  
“No,” Leo shook his head, “I barely know shit about this. And, that isn't fair, I don't know anything about you either.”  
  
“What _do_ you know?” Percy asked, looking honestly curious.  
  
“Apart from my own personal experience? Only what Di Angelo and Castellan have told me. I'd imagine you're up to date on that front.”  
  
Percy shook his head, surprising Leo.  
“I'm not. All Luke told me was, 'we're powerful.' The general gist being we're not human, and therefore better than humans; but, other than that, no. I didn't even know about Nico. Nico knows?...I guess that isn't surprising.”  
  
Leo paused, shifting his position slightly in bed. He wasn't completely sitting up, which made their rather severe conversation seem a bit too casual.   
“I guess I could be all vague and spooky about it, like them…but I don't know if my voice can hold out that long,” Leo mused. “We're demigods. Yeah, sounds weird, sounds crazy…but I'm guessing you have an absentee parent, and your other parent talks about them in high regard...blah blah..you see monsters and bad times etc. There, condensed version.”  
  
Percy looked momentarily shocked; it appeared to be an honest reaction. Leo really didn't think Percy knew beforehand, or if he did, he was an amazing actor.   
  
“Demigod? I mean, yeah I’ve seen monsters, but...seriously? A demigod?”  
  
“Yeah, well that's what they tell me anyway. I'm inclined to believe them based on...well, do you have any powers? Unexplained circumstance?”  
  
Percy didn't respond immediately, instead choosing to grab a small paper cup that was set on a bedside nightstand. He held up his hand, and the water moved from the cup up and between Percy's fingers.  
  
Leo choked out a laugh, “looks like we're on opposite sides of the spectrum.”  
Holding out a shaking hand, a small fire erupted from his finger tips.  
  
“Immune to fire, not…immune to no oxygen. Hence the whole hospital thing.” Percy tilted his head, intrigued by the flames.   
  
“I can breathe underwater.”  
  
“Lucky you...I wonder who your _godly_ parent is.” Leo hummed, or tried to, before extinguishing his flame.  
  
“Do you know?”  
  
“I think I know mine. Do you have any ideas? Familiar with Greek myth at all?”  
  
“No. Man, I'm barely literate. Dyslexia, lack of consistent schooling.”  
  
“Mm...” Leo hummed, starting to feel his mind drift. His body began to grow heavy, the energy it took to produce that amount of fire, as small as it was, in the state he was in, was a huge drain. Percy noticed that much and backed off.  
  
“We'll talk more later...Feel better soon, Leo.” It almost sounded like an order.   
  
-  
  
The next time Leo woke up, he saw Frank. Frank hadn’t seen he was awake yet, which made Leo lazily smile.  
  
“Hey, big guy...” Frank's head snapped towards him. Leo could see him visibly relax. That wasn't usually what happened when Frank looked at him.  
  
“I-...Percy said you were awake and …not high this time.” Leo wondered what he had called Frank in a drug addled state. What he had said, hopefully nothing damning.   
  
Leo raised an arm, showing where the IV had been. “Unfortunately, no drugs. I keep falling asleep...but, I'm awake enough for now.”  
  
Leo didn't know what to say, and it seemed like Frank didn't either. They just stared at each other for an uncomfortable amount of time. Then Leo noticed the bandages on Frank's hand.  
  
“You got burned? How?” Leo narrowed his eyes at the injuries. Frank shifted nervously, hard to pull off for a guy his size.  
  
“I opened the door to get you out. Percy and Jason helped...they had extinguishers.” Frank answered in a sort of anxious clipped way.  
  
“You what?” Leo stared, eyes widening. “You...you fucking _idiot_!” That hurt his throat. Something else hurt too.  
  
“You could have died! Do you know anything about fires, or backdraft?”  
  
Frank's eyes narrowed slightly, “yes I do. I'm well acquainted, actually. I was a bit more concerned with saving your sorry ass.”  
  
Leo pushed himself forward, sitting lurched over. “I don't care about _me_! You could have all been killed!”  
  
“I know that, I knew that. They knew that. We knew the risks, and decided you were worth them.” Frank said firmly, but his expression had softened a bit.  
  
“And what about your families, your friends, your girlfriend? What about them?”  
  
“I'm remarkably hard to kill.” Frank said simply, parroting back something Leo had once said himself. Leo sighed, deflating and leaning back exhausted. What a way to wake up.  
  
“Speaking of that though, why are you not dead right now, Leo?”  
  
It was a dirty tactic using his first name, not to mention interesting word choice. Leo paused, not wanting a repeat performance of the one he had with Percy.  
  
“I don't know.” That was honest enough.  
  
“How are you unscathed?”  
  
“I wouldn't called what I am right now unscathed.”  
  
“You have fewer burns than I do. You have _no_ burns.”  
  
Leo said nothing.  
  
“I didn't expect you to answer. I'll find out though, eventually. Your…magic trick.”  
  
Frank got stood up probably to leave, and Leo was feeling a lot less happy now than he had upon waking and seeing Frank.  
  
“But, for the time being,” Frank softer, “I'm glad you're okay.”  
  
And then Frank leaned down, and kissed Leo. Not on the lips, but on the top of the head. In some ways, Leo thought, this was better.  
  
\----  
It had been a long week. Dealing with the investigation into the fire, health and regulations and general safety of the prison was just a small chunk of it.   
  
The evidence was pointing all in one direction. Frank could probably safely guess that Leo Valdez was not normal. A normal human, that is. (He'd likely never pass for normal in _any_ circle.)  
The ultimate question however, was _what_ Valdez was. Was he even human? Was he more like Frank and Hazel, or...something else entirely? He didn't seem like any monsters that Frank had seen, and Frank assumed he'd be able to tell.   
These had all been thoughts that Frank had flit through his mind in the past on occasion, when the seemingly unexplainable happened, but this was new. This was a completely new situation, with no answer to be seen. Logic dictated that if no human could possibly have survived such a circumstance, then Leo Valdez could not be a normal human.  
  
After waking up from his injuries, Frank had the opportunity to really study the other man. He had two days to look at him, to notice the lack of injuries or burns. He wasn't the only one either.  
While there was the general rumor mill within the prison, the staff that had been present when the fire had been put out were all now paranoid. The older doctor, the one that treated them both, had mentioned he had seen a lot in his day…but never this. The doctor could only come up with a halfcocked idea about how maybe Valdez had covered himself in water somehow. It didn't take much thought to deconstruct the problems there. For one, they had found remnants of Valdez' uniform around his body that had all been burned to cinders. But, it wasn't as thought Frank would tell the doctor anything to the contrary, it'd be best if all of the staff forgot about the incident, as difficult as that may be.  
  
It wasn't just the staff either, Frank could tell both Percy and Jason were disconcerted by the things that didn't add up as much as Frank was. Neither of them were dumb men, and after the initial relief of Valdez being alive wore off, it was easy to tell that both Percy and Jason became a bit more withdrawn. They were in their heads, thinking, observing.   
  
Unfortunately there wasn't much Frank could do about his suspicions as it was now. Valdez was still not well, and it wasn't like Frank could bring it up to Jason or Percy. As much as he'd like to talk to Percy about it, it would mean telling him about everything _else_ first and Frank wasn't certain how well that would go over.  
There were limited options afforded to him as it were.  
  
Nico showed up the day Frank was released, and Luke Castellan not much after that. Nico seemed worried, but didn't seem to react much to the idea of Valdez having not been burned by the fire, which was curious. Nico was possibly the one person Frank could speak to, but who knew where his loyalties lie. There was _something_ about Nico Di Angelo, Frank thought, something familiar. But Di Angelo himself was a mystery enough, that it didn't seem smart to tell him everything.  
Castellan on the other hand, seemed to show up to gloat. He didn't seem worried, nor did he seem particularly concerned that Leo was still in the medical ward. Castellan was trying to make a point, He was using Valdez' miraculous survival a show to someone. Frank wasn't certain who it was addressed towards. All the inmates? Just Frank? Unlikely. It seemed he was pointing the comments more towards either Percy, Jason or maybe even Nico.  
  
And then there was Hazel, Frank hadn't even gotten the chance to speak to her yet. It wasn't as if he could request to call her, she likely wasn't using the same phone twice, nor would the prisons allow him to call out anyway.  
Frank wasn't entirely certain _how_ he'd talk to her now, either.   
If Frank was completely honest, there were two most likely results; Hazel would either think Leo Valdez was a monster, and should be eliminated, or she'd think he was in fact like them and try to rescue the both of them if she saw what she believed to be a threat towards either of them. Either way, neither was an ideal outcome. The second choice was simply to lie, but every lie and half truth he created, Frank knew would all be wounds to their relationship.  
Call him weak, call him a coward, but Frank was glad that choice lay off in the distance.  
  
-  
  
When Percy let Frank know that Leo was awake and aware of his surroundings, Frank wasn't sure what his next move should be. Hazel wasn't the only person Frank wasn't certain how to speak to now. After going through what they did, Frank wasn't certain where they stood. He had been content pretending not to care, or to dislike Valdez, but it was harder to pretend as much when you risk life and limb to try on a fool’s errand to save that person’s life.  
How does that conversation start?  
Frank found himself in the hospital room anyway. It wasn't as though he could wait there for hours, which is why it was fortunate that Leo woke up when he did. Or maybe it wasn't, it didn't take them very long to begin to argue again.  
  
But it brought out a side of Leo Valdez that Frank didn't see often, a side that Frank thought was more likely what lay below the complicated charade that Valdez put up. A Leo Valdez that actually cared about the people around him, one that was alone not due to choice.  
Had he been hurt before, afraid to make attachments? Or, was Valdez afraid of himself? He'd once mentioned the idea of being cursed, which Frank more or less wrote off at the time thinking it was more to do with being in prison, but now he rethought that. Could Valdez _literally_ think himself cursed?  
  
Frank thought back, remembering that Valdez' mother had reportedly died in a fire. Valdez hadn’t expanded on it much at the time, more than likely trying to scare Frank rather than reveal any personal information. However…   
If Valdez was somehow...immune to the flames themselves, could it be a form of survivors guilt? Most people, if they couldn't be burned by flames, might think of it as a good thing or a gift; but given the circumstances behind his mother’s death, maybe Valdez didn't see it as a positive thing.  
  
Frank asked, specifically wording his question, 'why are you not dead right now, Leo?'   
  
Not _how_ , but why.  
  
“I don't know,” Valdez said. Frank didn't think he was lying, even if chances were Valdez would need much more convincing circumstance to actually spill the beans. Frank thought it would be easier to turn the conversation back around to the fire.  
  
“I wouldn't called what I am right now unscathed.” Valdez had said, and he was right. Even apart from his skin tone seeming a bit paler than usual, the hoarseness of his tone, and a slight tremor in his hands...Valdez was obviously shaken up on another level entirely.  
  
Frank would eventually crack his code, but for now, all Frank could do was take care of him.  
  
\-----  
  
Leo was discharged a day after his talk with Frank, though discharged was a heavy word. It was more like the medical staff realized Leo no longer had his IV in, so he must be A-OK. No need to waste extra precious tax dollars on a criminal, after all. It's not like smoke inhalation could cause damage or anything, and even if it did, they at the very least gave him some antibiotics, inhaler and glucocorticoids; under surveillance, of course.  
  
Leo certainly didn't feel well, though definitely better than he did upon waking, but regardless of how he felt he'd take his shared prison cell over hospital any day.   
Frank seemed a bit surprised to see Leo back in the cell, no one having told him Leo was going to be discharged when he was.   
  
Leo was sitting on the bottom bunk, too tired to climb into his own when Frank arrived.  
  
“Can we switch for a few days?” Leo said simply, before turning his head to have a coughing fit. Fire sucked.  
  
When he turned back, Frank had filled a paper cup with some water from their sad little cell sink. Leo took it gladly, drinking down the contents in a fast glug.  
“Yeah, not a problem.” Frank said, voice easy, a tone not usually directed at Leo. “Do you need anything else? Extra blanket? Do you have any pain meds, or anything else on you?”  
  
“...I might,” Leo glanced at the rather unappealing 100 thread count sheets on the lower bunk. “I don't have any meds though, they'll dole them out to me at breakfast or dinner...”  
  
“That's ridiculous. What are you going to do? OD on three ibuprofen?” Frank huffed, grabbing the blankets from the top bunk and laying them out on the bottom.  
  
“..You're not gunna get cold are you?” Leo asked after a moment of watching, this new nice Frank was a bit odd. Not particularly out of character, Leo always knew Frank was a pretty good guy, and just a bit fussy when it all came down to it. But, it was odd when it was directed in his favor.  
Leo couldn't keep paranoid thoughts from his head, wondering if it was all an act to try and get Leo to reveal something.  
  
“I've been homeless before, and I'm usually on the move...trust me, a few nights without a blanket won't hurt me much.” Frank flippantly, as though he was talking about having a dog named Max, not childhood homelessness.  
  
Leo shrugged a shoulder, “you could always just sleep next to me. Not like I'm infectious or anything.”  
  
Frank paused straightening out the sheets, glancing up. “I don't know if that's a good idea.”  
  
Leo rolled his eyes, “I don't want to fuck if that's what you're thinking. It'd just be an easier way for us both to stay warm. Whatever, I don't care much anyway.”  
  
“You sound a lot more like Nico when you're sick, you know that?”  
  
Leo shot his best glare.   
  
“You're both round about when you talk, like you can't tell the truth but you really wish someone would magically infer what you mean, but you do it usually through being a smart ass. It's just interesting you've seemingly switched.” Frank's expression was almost cheeky, and Leo did not appreciate it.   
“I don't mind sleeping with you, _not like that_ , I was just afraid I might hurt you.”  
  
“I'm not that delicate,” Leo grumbled, not feeling up to a full argument. That actually made Frank chuckle, which was entirely disconcerting.  
  
“You survived being burned alive, there's a lot of words I'd use to describe you Valdez, but delicate isn't one.”  
  
“I don't like this Frank. Nice Frank. It's weird.” Leo flopped back onto the top of the sheets once Frank was done straightening everything out. Frank shot him a look Leo was more accustom to.  
  
“I'm a nice person, you just test my patience.” Frank said simply, sitting down at the foot of the bunk. Leo tried to laugh but it came out more like a wheeze.  
  
“You know, I don't doubt that.”  
  
-  
  
Between trying to heal, Frank not hating him actively, and knowing Percy was also a demigod, Leo had his hands full.   
His weirdness meter was full, and his body wanted him to do weird things like... _rest_.   
But he couldn't, not completely; having been discharged in the morning...Leo was still expected to go about things like a normal inmate. He wanted nothing more than to just collapse back down onto the bed next to Frank and sleep for 10 hours. But Leo had to go to lunch, and _then_ was still expected to work. Well, they expected him to be present for work, but not much of the staff was about to enforce that he did actual work. Leo had been pulled from laundry duty given that the room was still in a state of disrepair, being put with the cooks so they could keep an eye on him.   
They didn't say that's why they put him around 10 other staff members and very few inmates, but it wasn't hard to guess their reasoning.  
  
Lunch itself was a chore, between people talking to him and Leo desperately trying not to spend too long looking or talking to Percy for fear of setting off some sort of alarm bells in Frank and Jason.  
  
Speaking of Jason though, he rocketed up into Leo's 1# favorite person space when after a few annoying inmates felt the need to press their luck and chatter, Jason stepped in to tell them to knock it off and get lost. Leo hadn't seen much of Jason, though both Frank and Percy let him know that Jason often visited him in the hospital ward, just more so when Leo was still loopy and couldn't remember him. Jason, like Frank, was very attentive to Leo during their lunchtime, taking care as to not exhaust him.   
Jason, was a good friend. And it was hard not to feel guilty not telling him the whole truth. There was no possible way Jason was stupid enough to think something wasn't off about Leo's survival of the fire, but for whatever reason he didn't bring it up. Maybe he was waiting for Leo himself to come forward and tell him, in which case he'd likely be left waiting.  
  
Later, to his surprise (not), when Leo got to his work station Frank greeted him there. The staff wasn't going to take any more chances; in their eyes it was likely they saw Frank as some sort of Leo safety blanket.  
Work wasn't hard, they more or less insisted that Leo not do much, though that may have been more do to Frank's influence than theirs. Leo just spent the majority of his time peeling potatoes, while sitting on a stool next to a sink until they were able to clock out.   
  
Next came dinner, and Leo was definitely ready to skip and just go straight to bed, but Jason and Frank insisted he try to eat something. He couldn't get much down, but that was no surprise. The real surprise was when a guard showed up, carrying Leo's medications. That, in and of itself was not the surprising part however.  
  
“We've, uh, got a phone call from a Miss Levesque.” The guard uttered awkwardly, looking at Leo and Frank uncertainly.  
  
As Frank made a move to stand, the guard shook his head.  
  
“She's calling for Valdez…”  
  
“ _Me_?” Leo blurted out, feeling a lot more awake all of a sudden. “Why me?”  
  
“I don't know, I'm just the messenger. Do you approve or, not?” The poor guy was not thrilled with the way Frank's expression and become closed off and frozen.   
  
“Uuuh...” Glancing between the guard and Frank, Leo felt dumbfounded for the first time in a long while, and his tiredness didn't help matters any. “…Sure?”  
Was that the right thing to say? Frank wasn't giving off any signs either way.   
  
“Okay, let's go then.” The guard sighed, relieved.   
  
“Now?”  
  
“Yes, she's on hold.”  
  
Leo gave a long look towards Frank before standing up. Frank didn't meet his eyes, and just stared straight ahead, not really looking at anything.   
  
Leo left with the guard.  
  
-  
  
What was her name again, he wondered sitting down into the booth. Haley? No, that wasn't right.  
  
_Hazel_ , that was it.   
  
Leo picked up the phone off the receiver, who knew anyone still had landlines anymore.  
  
“Uh, hello?” Leo started awkwardly, not certain if she was even still on the line. Maybe it was all some cosmic joke, or a prank, or a trap?  
  
_“Hello, Leo Valdez.”_  
  
_Well_ , now. Didn't she have a lovely voice. It was smooth but strong, with just a hint of an accent Leo couldn't place. But, it sounded familiar.  
  
“Hello, Miss Levesque.” Leo cocked an honest grin for the first time in a number of days.  
  
_“Oh, please, call me Hazel. Miss sounds a bit...well, just call me Hazel.”_  
  
“Alright, _Hazel_.” Leo hummed, “can I asked why you called me and not your boyfriend?”  
  
_“Well, that's the thing. I did call Frank, last week. He never picked up, and when I called the prison later, they told me he was in the hospital ward. Because of you, actually.”_ Her voice was borderline...well Leo realized why Frank liked her, she was not someone to mess with.  
  
“Ah, that. Well, he's been out for a few days, completely fine. I'm sure he'd love to talk to you.” That was definitely not a hint of bitterness in his voice, definitely not. Leo was the one who started this, he was the one who may end up splitting up the happy couple.  
  
_“Why was he in the hospital at all, Leo?”_  
  
“I-..” Leo paused. “I suppose I am partially at fault for that…though so is he, and ..in all honesty neither of us are, exactly?”  
  
Hazel didn't respond for a moment. _“..What does that mean?”_  
  
“Well, okay, so it's a long story and my throat feels like death itself. Condensed version, I pissed off some people, they tried to kill me by locking me in a room that was on fire. Frank, uh, he saved my life actually. Him and ...two other inmates. Jason, and Percy.”  
  
_“Fire?”_ She sounded alarmed. _“That's...Frank doesn't like fire.”_  
  
“Yeah, I kinda guessed that much..” Leo muttered, not wanting to get too far into things.  
  
_“I see...and, you're alright?”_ Hazel asked, causing Leo to smile to himself.  
  
“Yeah, I didn't get anything much worse than smoke inhalation damage. Which, don't get me wrong, is still pretty awful; possible permanent damage and all that. But, I'll live.”  
  
_“I'm glad to hear it.”_ Leo wondered how long that sentiment would stay true, if she ever found out the truth of Frank and his relationship how would she think about Leo then.

_“You know, it’s nice to talk to you, Leo. Frank and I don’t get the opportunity to make friends, I’m glad he’s met you and the others.”_ Hazel’s tone was nearly wistful, which left him wondering what sort of life Frank and Hazel actually lived on the outside. Frank’s mention of homelessness was odd, and the way Hazel spoke...it almost seemed as if they were on the run from someone or something.   
  
“No offense, it wasn’t too difficult to get the impression Frank didn’t have many friends.” Leo snorted, shifting on the seat of the booth. Hazel made a humming noise in agreement, though she sounded rather troubled by it.  
  
_“Neither of us ever have…Our families have been complicated to say the least. Until I met Frank I had ever only had… just one friend.  I think Frank had a few acquaintances in school, but no one very close…and then his mother died in Afghanistan, followed shortly by his grandmother in a house fire.  It’s a bit hard for him to open up unless he completely trusts someone.”_  
  
Leo froze, the words ‘ _house fire_ ’ burned into the back of his head. No wonder Frank had reacted so strongly to the Leo burning things in their cell, no wonder Frank had so many reservations about being his cellmate.  
No wonder Frank tried to save Leo from the fire. There had been people Frank hadn’t been able to save in the past.  Leo understood that, intimately understood what that felt like.   
  
Those thoughts were enough to nearly stop Leo from realizing the full implications of Hazel’s words. Frank wouldn’t open up to someone he didn’t trust, and given what Leo had said, then Frank didn’t trust him. Sure, Leo knew that. But Hazel was confirming it for herself, and maybe trying to get Leo to spill information on himself in return.   
Leo remembered this was the girl who knew morse code.  
  
“Frank doesn’t trust me,” Leo responded simply. “I can’t blame him, I’m not the most trustworthy person on the planet. I’ve lied to him before, repeatedly.”  
  
Hazel was quiet for a moment, before inquiring. _“Why?”_  
  
Leo let out a short puff of air through his nose, “there are some things that are better left unknown.”  
  
_“You’re right, but I can’t imagine you’re doing yourself more good than harm.”_ Hazel retorted, she didn’t have to point out the fact Leo had nearly died.  
  
“Sometimes it’s not about doing good by myself.” Though, Leo would be lying is he said part of it wasn’t about protecting himself.  
  
_“..You’re protecting him from something, then?”_ Hazel asked, sounding intrigued. Leo chuckled, though it hurt his ribs to do so.  
  
“In a way, though don’t ever tell him that.”  
  
Hazel made a soft noise of agreement. _“What from?”_  
  
“Myself and the things I bring with me.” Leo zoned out on the fake wooden panels around him. “People around me, things don’t end well for them. “  
  
_“I understand,”_ Hazel said, surprising Leo out of his thoughts. She had said it with enough force, enough emotion behind her voice, Leo felt like he could trust her words.   
_“Frank helped me, and I helped him. We got past our curses, and became more than them.”_  
  
Wouldn’t that be nice, Leo thought.  
  
-  
  
Frank was waiting for Leo in their cell, when Leo returned from speaking to Hazel. There was a metaphorical storm cloud above Frank’s head, and Leo wasn’t in the mood to get struck by lightning.   
  
“Don’t worry,” was the first thing out of Leo’s mouth. “I didn’t say anything damning.”    
  
Frank’s head snapped up, and if looks could kill Leo’d be on his back 6 feet under.  
  
“She just wanted to know why I was the reason you had missed your call before, no big.”  
  
“I highly doubt that’s the only reason she called.” Frank spoke with a clipped tone, his entire form tense. Frank knew his girlfriend well, Leo thought. Well, no surprises there.   
  
“No, I think she was vetting me too; seeing if I was some super-secret serial killer or something. She knows you’re wary of me, and don’t particularly trust me, and we touched briefly on my deep emotional issues and it ended with emotional and quite damp phone sex.” Leo shot a half hearted grin at the other man, before more or less collapsing onto the bottom bunk.   
What an exhausting experience.  Who knew, right? Prison. No fun.  
  
Frank’s expression didn’t change whatsoever, which was mildly concerning.  
  
“Are we gunna argue, or can I sleep?” Frank raised a single eyebrow at the question which meant Leo was very likely not going to be allowed to sleep any time soon.   
  
“Fr _aaa_ nk, please?” Leo batted his eyes. No go. “ _Pretty_ please?”  Nope,  still not working.   
  
“Okay, fine. She told me you had no friends, and about your mom and grandmother.” That got a reaction.  
  
“Why would she-“ Frank started, but Leo held up a hand to stop him.   
  
“She wanted me to tell her more about myself, very interesting tactic. It would put most people in a place to reveal information about themselves in return, of course I saw through that...but I do appreciate the thought behind it.” Frank’s eyes narrowed slightly, while Leo tried to lie down and make himself more comfortable under the sheets.   
  
The lights went out, and Leo was left trying to pretend it wasn’t completely awkward trying to lay down next to someone who was radiating anger like a sun.  
  
“I don’t understand why she didn’t say anything much about herself, I mean...that’s usually how it would go, you’d trade information about yourself...not another person. Why would I feel the need to tell _her_ anything?”  
  
Frank said nothing.  
  
“Like, yeah, as if I’m just going to blurt out my entire life story to her, right? She’s smart but, not that smart.” Leo mumbled, looking at the cross bars on the bottom of the upper bunk.  
  
“Your mom died, and your grandma died in a fire. Like, I’ve got both of that in one go. Mom died in a fire, in her own workshop. I was eight. How old were you?”  
  
Frank paused, before slowly answering. “I was fifteen, and sixteen.”   
  
“Yeah,” Leo waved a hand, “completely different. Don’t get me wrong, still horrible, but...there’s something different. You’re a kid so blame yourself more, you know? Then, there are the foster homes that follow. Let’s throw an emotionally unstable kid into a happy family, that’ll go great. They definitely won’t ship you off at the first sign of trouble. Why would you? It’s so easy to deal with a little kid who thinks their parent was murdered, and they might be a danger to everyone around them. “  
  
“You think your mother was murdered?” Frank asked, tone a lot softer than it had been before.  
 Leo nodded a few times, man he was tired, why was he still talking again?  
  
“Yeah, she was locked in, and I’m pretty sure I saw someone in there with her. I tried to help, but the door was locked from the inside. Which, it didn’t do, by the way. Like, should have been impossible. No one believed me of course, thought it was trauma manifesting itself as a delusion. The later arson charges against me didn’t help.”   
  
“You didn’t get hurt, did you? From the fire?” Frank pressed on, and Leo could feel his vision starting to swim.  
  
“Mm, no.” Leo snorted, “as if I ever do.”  All this was followed by a massive yawn and an arm stretch.   
  
The last thing Leo remembered before falling asleep was a hand tangling through his hair.  
  
-  
  
Leo woke up the next morning, and memories of what he had said in a tired stupor the night before flooded through his head.  
  
“ _Son of a-_ ”   
  
Hazel Levesque’s tactics were on a whole new level.  


 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One time I accidentally created chlorine gas. not a fun time. 
> 
> If anyone needs to get ahold of me outside of the comments on here, remember you can contact me on historicallyinnacurate.tumblr.com or contact me on skype at..also historicallyinnacurate
> 
> Thanks for reading folk, we've got a couple chapters left and more revelations to ..revelate.


	10. Hazel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time to look from the outside in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To anyone curious if we were going to see Hazel's side of things, boy, do I have a chapter for you.

\--  
  
  
  
  
  
Hazel's father had brought her back from the dead-- but who exactly her father was Hazel wasn't certain she'd ever find out. While she hadn't been alive very long, she'd never felt older than waking up in a modern America.  
The one individual she had know, the one friend, her one love, was likely in old age or dead by now. Hazel couldn't seek Sammy out.  
She couldn't do anything to help anyone anymore it seemed like. Not ever herself. She was stuck, in Alaska, alone. Hazel didn't know what had truly happened to her, or her mother. All she knew was there were monsters in this world. So what could she do?  
A message made itself known to her during a dream, to go south-- to California.  
  
Easier said than done, all things considered. The powers that be apparently didn't think of things like bus fare or train tickets. Let alone passports for going through British Columbia.  
Or maybe, in some way they had. Hazel was prepared to beg the bus driver, or to try and find some embassy and create some story to cover her tracks. Some way, any way, to get where she believed she needed to be. But, no one seemed to care, and half the time it seemed like no one even noticed her. Growing up a black girl in the 30's and 40's, Hazel was used to getting completely overlooked (at the best of times), but this was something entirely different.  
In fact, it seemed like the only times anyone did notice her presence..were the people who weren't... _really_ people.  
  
Until one older boy with a soft face sat down beside her and asked where she was headed.  
  
Initially, Hazel was skeptical. Was he like the others? He...certainly didn't seem like it.  
And then he said he was going to California too, and Hazel thought maybe..just maybe he was more like her than them.

  
Frank was his name, and that was really the beginning of her new life.  
  
Things never really worked out like one expects. Their trip to California to find something was cut off, and they had to find a new way. Not just a new path, but a new way to live-- to survive.  
  
They trained, they worked hard, and sometimes it felt more like a two person boot camp than it did two homeless teens living in the wilderness. They kept each other smart, sharp, and swift. Hazel had gotten stronger, fitter. Frank had too, but he'd always have that soft face she loved..and she sort of loved his soft belly and the muscles below it too.  
They were each others best friends, they got along perfectly, they backed each other up. Always.  
  
Falling in love again was easy.  
  
Which is what made losing Frank so difficult.  
It had been complete chaos inside that building, monsters everywhere, and they just kept coming. They hissed strange things that didn't make sense, about revivals and destruction. Frank did what he could to win, it's what Hazel would have done too. It wasn't until too late that Hazel sensed the building was unstable, and was about to give out.  
It fell, with Frank inside. For a brief moment, Hazel was afraid she had lost everything again. She had tried so hard to keep his driftwood safe, that it seemed insane she might lose him like this.  
  
But, Frank was alive.  
He was also being taken in by the police. He was being sent to prison.  
  
Hazel spoke to the arresting police officer, though spoke might have been wording it a bit nicely. How could Frank be sentenced so quickly? It wasn't just unfair, it made no sense. The criminal justice system may have been terrible, but this was something entirely else. The officer wrote her off, and had her escorted out of the building.  
They were lucky they didn't lose a finger or 10.  
  
While Frank could shape shift, and possibly free himself from his jail cell, without contact it would be difficult for him to know where Hazel was. So, she'd have to set up near the facility. Outside their radar, but close enough that Frank was likely to check surrounding areas for her. Unfortunately, this particular prison was in a sparse valley. There were woods nearby, but finding an area dense enough she could hide herself in would be hard.  
She might have to consider her position as well, in regards to Frank being able to find her quickest after wards, but Hazel would bet on Frank shifting into something with a good sense of smell or something air born so it wouldn't have to be the biggest worry.  
Once Hazel found a reasonable area, she used the earth itself to create a type of shelter for herself under the tree cover.  
  
The next step was procuring multiple burner phones. It was always a possibility that it would attract monsters to her location, but Hazel was more than confidant that she'd be able to handle it.  
  
After contacting the prison and finding out Frank's processing time and when he'd be available to use phone priviledges, Hazel was finally able to contact Frank.  
  
It didn't really go like she expected.  
  
The first thing that caught her by surprise was that Frank's cellmate was named Valdez. It wasn't like it was a hugely uncommon name, especially in California, but still...How ironic was it that Hazel's second love was in a jail cell with a man with the same family name as her first love.  
Almost seemed like fate  
Smart, crafty, it all sounded like Sammy. Hazel knew it couldn't be, but...  
  
But, she could put off those thoughts until a later day. For now, it was good enough just to talk to Frank. His voice relaxed muscles Hazel didn't realize were even tense.  
  
Frank mentioning the prison complex being supposedly haunted perked Hazel's interest however, having been someone formerly dead, the idea of ghosts was an odd one. As unlikely as it was, it bore looking into.  
  
More than that though, was likely Frank's real intention, this would give Hazel a chance to look into the background and layout of the prison establishment.  
It could prove useful, or be a well needed distraction at the very least.  
  
After Hazel paid a sad farewell to Frank, she got to work.  
They owned a computer, but they so rarely used it, Hazel felt a bit behind the times when it came to online research. Which was saying something since Hazel was, literally, behind the times-- really, it should have been impressive she learned as quickly as she had. They didn't even have _calculators_ when she was a kid, and now Hazel had to learn how to navigate the internet without infecting the laptop nine ways from Sunday with every virus known to man?  
Needless to say, Hazel was sort of hoping she could find what she needed in the records section of the nearest library, and save everything else as a last resort.  


-  
  
It seemed like nothing stood out, besides a slightly higher number of inmate breakouts than what one might expect to see in a medium security prison. The founder was one Alfred Riker, who originally intended to have the facility double as free labour for his budding winery. The winery didn't make it, but the prison itself kept going just fine. It seemed like your run of the mill facility, as far as Hazel's research went into the matter.  
No prison was ever going to be favorably looked upon, but there didn't seem to be any stories of drama or remarkable intrigue. A few inmates had died over the years, but it wasn't in strange circumstances, and Hazel saw no reports of ghost sightings or other paranormal activity.  
That said, there weren't reporting at the prison itself...but there were a higher than average amount of report sightings of all sorts of things in the surrounding towns. It didn't seem like a year went by without a child claiming they saw, 'a monster.'  
  
Warning bells started to go off in Hazel's head. The prison was either attracting monsters, or it was a source of them, either way...Hazel didn't think it was a coincidence Frank had ended up processed to this facility in particular.  
  
Someone knew something they weren't admitting. Hazel just wished she had more access to information on the actual inmates-- even if she used a computer for the task it wasn't as if they'd just list all of the inmates and their records online for all the world to see, and needless to say her 'hacking' skills were non-existent.  
There were a few newspaper clippings about inmates, but not many were recent-- one mention of a P. Jackson who had been arrested after evading police as a youth in New York, and finally being caught in California. Other than that, there didn't seem to be much on the books, nothing about N14 yard or the inmates held there.  
  
There was enough of a lack of information though that Hazel felt mildly guilty the next time she called Frank-- but that call didn't really go in the direction she was expecting either.  
  
_“_ _Hazel, do you think you could give my cellmate a message in Morse code?”_ Frank asked, voice sounding tense. It was exactly a worrisome tone, more so the voice Hazel associated with Frank facing a challenge of some sort.  
Hazel wasn't exactly sure it was a great idea to send a message via Morse, they might need to encode information later and not many people knew Morse code anymore which made it a valuable tool.  
  
_“My cellmate knows it, and is using it to drive me up the wall. When I mentioned you knew it, he didn't believe me.”_  
  
Ah, Hazel thought with some amusement, so it _was_ a challenge. The Valdez roommate at that, or..cellmate as it were. She wondered if this Valdez really was anything like Sammy Valdez.  
Still though, Hazel would need a way to make sure they still had a safe mode of conversation is Morse wouldn't work-- not that Frank knew Morse anyway.  
Atbash Cypher it was then, fairly simple but Hazel didn't think anyone would pick up on it. And if so, well then...Hazel wasn't very worried, after all she had a whole book of ways to deceive and hide secrets.  
  
She started writing her message, and couldn't help but mention Sammy in a rather round about way. Hazel didn't think she had ever mentioned Sammy's last name to Frank, while he did know that he existed and she had dated him... still, Frank might feel a bit odd if he knew his roommate shared the same last name with her boyfriend from a lifetime ago.  
The message got a bit long, but in all honesty it was a bit fun to play a bit of a joke on Frank. She hoped his roommate would let him know exactly what all the message said just to ruffle Frank's feathers a bit.  
  
She did miss him though. Hazel spent so much time alone, as a child, in death, and now...Well, seeing Frank again couldn't come soon enough.  
  
-  
  
Hazel spoke to Frank once after that and she asked about Valdez, Frank grunted something noncommittal that told her that Frank was still a bit on the fence about whether or not he actually liked his cellmate or not-- it was kind of cute really. While they had only had each other for years, Hazel knew they both would of kind of liked to have more friends, a wider circle; she thought it was likely Frank was struggling with maybe wanting to be friends with Valdez, and two other boys he had mentioned named Percy and Jason.  
It was hard not to be a little envious really, sitting in her makeshift shelter-- not that that wasn't a silly thought, Hazel certainly would not wish jail time on herself or anyone else for that matter.  
  
Plus, things around her were starting to get a bit interesting.  
  
Surveying the area like normal, Hazel was beginning to notice an uptick in the amount of campers in a campground a few miles away. It wasn't really camping season, and the vast majority seemed like young adults with..not much in the way of actual gear. It was strange enough that Hazel took a chance and used what she called her 'magic' to go unnoticed by the inhabitants. She was fairly certain she saw knives on more than one of the campers, and none of them looked like any hunting blades she had ever seen.  
And that wasn't all of it either.  
In the woods, Hazel passed unnoticed by a girl in very ...silvery clothing. She appeared to be alone, and there wasn't anything near by. She wasn't another camper, and Hazel wasn't honestly certain where she came from. The girl walked nearly silently on dry grass and twigs, like a master hunter, not someone who looked..a maximum of 16 years old.  
  
Something was up outside the prison, _and_ inside the prison.  
  
There had been a noticeable increase in truck shipments of who knows what in the last week. It looked like your usual private type of delivery company, but when Hazel finally resorted to looking up the name on the side of the truck, she couldn't find anything. It was a cover of some sort, but why would anyone need a cover to transport something inside the prison-- assuming the prison knew what was going on. If they didn't, Hazel could only guess something big was coming, but until she knew more she wasn't going to report back to Frank.  
They only had so much time in their chat sessions, and Hazel needed to make sure whatever she said counted.  
  
Though maybe she had an ulterior motive in it all. Hazel actually liked talking to Frank about his week, about the people he met, about his work, and...she actually liked hearing about Valdez.  
  
It wasn't long before she got the image that this Leo Valdez was a distinctly different person than Sammy had been. Sammy had been smart, funny, clever, all things it sounded like Leo was...but from what it sounded like, Sammy was more laid back about it. He didn't usually go out of his way to purposely annoy anyone, and any jokes he pulled tended to get an audience on his side. Their sense of humor bordered on similar, but there were times where Frank would quote something Leo had said, and Hazel would stare blankly for a moment before laughing incredulously. He was unique. Leo, it seemed was a bit more brash, definitely more hyperactive, and a bit more prickly even; while Frank didn't say it outright, he painted the picture of a young man that was rather reserved and used his wit as a defense..and it sounded like it had a tendency to horribly backfire.  
Even given their differences, Hazel had a hard time not picturing Sammy when Frank spoke of Leo. It wasn't as though she was still in love with Sammy, but sometimes it was hard not to think back on fond memories and think what would life have been like.  
Hazel believed it was fate, that she met Frank, but maybe it was fate that placed Frank in that prison too.

  
Hazel wasn't sure what made her write a letter to Frank, and enclose a photo of herself inside. On some level, maybe she wanted this Leo Valdez to see it.  
  
-  
  
Since the last time they spoke, Hazel could tell Frank was far more tense than he had been before. Secretly, they passed messages to one another-- Frank telling Hazel about an individual named Luke Castellan; Nico Di Angelo, a name that seemed vaguely familiar; and about the few guards Frank suspected were dirty. And, of course, Leo Valdez.  
But, none of that seemed to be the source of Frank's ire. Well, some of it might have been due to the Castellan fellow, but primarily it sounded as though something had happened between Leo and Frank. It wasn't that Frank was a completely untrusting person, he was honestly the nicest guy Hazel had ever known, but he had more than enough reason to be wary around strangers-- and that could only be multiplied by being in prison.  
Hazel thought maybe Frank and Leo had been moving towards friends, but for whatever reason Frank now didn't think he could trust his cellmate. Hazel felt like she was almost there, in the middle of it, and she wanted it to all work out for the best; Hazel hoped she could be friends some day with this Leo Valdez.  
Maybe, for once, Hazel and Frank could feel like normal young adults with normal lives and friends.  
  
But Hazel wasn't there, she couldn't do anything about the situation-- not to mention she had enough trouble investigating everything else going on in and around the prison. The names Frank had given Hazel didn't turn up much, but they did return more than most of her searches.  
  
Luke Castellan had been mentioned in a few newspapers, but only briefly as a child, when he had apparently gone missing. The state, through his school, had been the ones to report it as his mother it seemed had not been in her full faculties at the time. Luke didn't turn up again until he was arrested as an adult, which it seemed surprised a few state officials who believed he was likely dead. More than that, while it didn't say it outright, Hazel suspected Luke had been caught on purpose along with a few of his friends. Given what Frank had told Hazel, about a possible break out, Hazel thought it was indeed likely that Luke may be the mind behind the plan.  
  
Now, Nico Di Angelo was a curious case-- she didn't see really any matches or information whatsoever, no online profiles, no names in phone books. She checked variants of the name too, Nicholas, Diangelo De Angelo, and many others, but still nothing turned up. The only thing close was a newspaper clipping from the early 1940's, detailing the apparent deaths of a Di Angelo family; a mother, a daughter, and a son-- Nico. Initially, Hazel overlooked it, writing it off completely, but in the back of her mind Hazel's thoughts kept drifting back to the article. It had been around the same time Hazel herself had 'died.' It was likely a coincidence, and with no photos to accompany it, Hazel couldn't ask Frank for any descriptions of the man. It was silly to keep thinking about it, and yet...Well, Hazel looked to other things to distract herself.  
  
Colvin and the other guards didn't turn up much, unfortunately, but Hazel wasn't really expecting to find many details. The most she could have hoped for was maybe some post on facebook about buying a new car, or something obviously outside their normal price range to indicate maybe someone was taking a cut under the table. The only thing that stood out as strange was, it _did_ seem like Colvin was living a bit outside his means...the problem being was it appeared to go back for years and years.

  
If Colvin was in on something, and was being paid for it, it dated back to long before Luke Castellan had ever been an inmate.  
  
If she didn't have chills before, Hazel definitely felt like her skin was beginning to crawl. Not all the pieces of the puzzle were there yet, a good portion of the image was missing, but what was there seemed frightful.  
It didn't seem like there were a few individuals inside the prison who were part of a conspiracy, it seemed like the _prison itself_ was the source.  
  
Frank needed to get out of there before something terrible happened.  
  
-  
  
The terrible happened not long after. As her call was being connected, Hazel was put on hold for an oddly long amount of time-- far longer than ever before. It got to the point where she was worried, extremely worried.  
There was no way Frank would voluntarily avoid her call, it just wouldn't happen.  
  
And then the call was dropped, after an hour of waiting.  
  
The first thing Hazel could do, after walking in a circle trying to brainstorm while calming herself down, was check on the mysterious campers.  
There was no change in status, the numbers hadn't jumped dramatically and it didn't seem like anything was being mobilized.  
Hazel saw no more signs of the girl in silvery garb.  
  
Whatever had happened likely originated within the prison, not from an outside source.  
  
No support desk or individual at the facility would answer her calls until 2 days later.  
  
She was not thrilled with the staff at the moment. It didn't take too long to get an actual answer from the man on the phone, because hell hath no fury like a Hazel scorned.  
There had been an incident, they said; The same gang that had apparently been targeting Leo had struck again, and this time it landed both Leo and Frank in the hospital ward. She was assured many times, so they wouldn't be sued, that both would be fine and that the prison was in no way responsible for 'such atrocities.'  
Regardless of the fact someone scheduled Leo apart, and alone from anyone else. Regardless of the fact there were security cameras throughout the prison and in the laundry room where Leo Valdez had reportedly been. Ones that supposedly, ' _malfunctioned_ ' at the time of the incident.  
  
No, Hazel suspected, someone at the prison wanted Leo Valdez dead, and because of it Frank could have been killed.  
  
It was almost surprising that Frank had risked himself to save Leo, knowing that their relationship had been strained recently-- or it would be if Hazel didn't know Frank. Of course he would. Frank was noble, he was self sacrificing-- they were some of the things Hazel loved about him.

That didn't mean Hazel wasn't about to talk to Leo when she got the chance, she needed to know where his loyalties lie; if Leo was more of the threat than a benefit, then Hazel would find a way to remove Frank from the prison, no matter what.  
  
-  
  
Most of her dreams were unremarkable, they toed the line between nightmare and memory-- and often those two things were the same. Of course, the vast majority were dreams just like anyone else would have, but tonight was different.  
  
Sammy stood in front of her, eyes closed as though he were asleep; but there was something about him, Sammy looked older...he looked _off_. The same curly hair, but Hazel had been certain Sammy's hair was pure black, where as this boys hair was dark brown. Their face shapes were similar, but something was different and Hazel didn't think it was due to an age difference.

And those ears-- Sammy wore a jockey cap, almost always. Hazel knew for a fact what Sammy's ears looked like. They were most certainly _not_ pointed.  
  
This was a different person all together, wasn't he? Or had it been long enough her own memory was failing her? Was this the cruelest joke time could play on her?  
  
He opened his eyes, and Hazel knew for a fact that this was not Sammy. Similar eye shape, similar color, but they say the eyes are the windows to the soul-- and this soul was not Sammy Valdez'.  
  
And yet, when he looked surprised to see her, looking like he was struggling to remember her name as though he knew her, Hazel couldn't stop the name from spilling out from her mouth.  
  
“Sammy?”  
  
His brows furrowed-- it wasn't his name. He started to open his mouth, trying to speak.  
  
And then he vanished, and Hazel woke up.  
  
-  
  
Hazel crossed her legs, looking into the darkness of the night as she waited; fear of the night, of the dark, was natural-- a response to more primal instincts. To Hazel, it was calming.  
  
People were starting to mobilize at the campsite, and Hazel had seen more than one girl in silver-- and this time there were other people with the girls as well. Not the mysterious campers, no, this was different. Hazel made note of a girl with long blonde hair with a coldness to her expression, another girl who looked like she had been in plenty of fights and had won them all, and yet another who looked more like a girl Hazel may have gone to school with back in her days at St. Agnes. None of the three were dressed in anything silver, in fact they all wore orange shirts like a rather gaudy uniform.  
The odd man out was a young man, pale, dark haired, who seemed to address one of the girls in silver, and the blonde girl with urgency. This was likely the Nico Di Angelo that Frank had mentioned in an encrypted message, someone who had a way in and out of the prison by unknown means.  
Hazel didn't risk getting close enough to hear exactly what was being said, but she didn't get the impression they had anything to do with the individuals at the other campsite.  
Their presence however still gave off serious bad vibes. Hazel intended to let Frank know whatever was going to happen, was going to happen soon.  
  
However... she wanted the chance to speak to Leo Valdez before that happened. Normally, Hazel could only call Frank once a week, but she wouldn't lose that privilege by calling Leo.  
This was her one time to find out, if a break out happened, if all hell broke loose-- whose side was he on?  
  
The call clicked as it was connected.  
  
“Hello, Leo Valdez.” Hazel said clearly and calmly.  
  
_“Hello, Miss Levesque.”_ Leo responded, and boy, was his voice rough. He sounded worse than someone 3 weeks into the flu. If he was trying to sound smooth, he was failing spectacularly. It was rather endearing actually.  
  
They got the formalities out of the way quickly, and it didn't take long for Leo to ask why Hazel had called him instead of Frank. When she mentioned finding out about Frank in the hospital ward, Leo's response struck her as rather odd.  
  
_“Ah, that. Well, he's been out for a few days, completely fine. I'm sure he'd love to talk to you.”_   
  
He sounded very nearly...jealous? Hazel raised an eyebrow, wondering if possibly she was interpreting his tone wrong due to his sore throat. But, maybe something else was up entirely.  
If Leo had feelings for Frank, and Frank couldn't return them, that could possibly explain why they may have had a type of falling out.  
  
Hazel shuffled that off into the, maybe discuss later pile, and got to the real issue-- why Frank had been there in the first place? What had actually happened?  
Of course she already knew some of the details, but Hazel wanted an honest answer from Leo.  
  
Finding out there had been a fire made her clutch Frank's piece of driftwood tighter to her chest. Frank really, _really_ , did not like fire. And neither did she.  
  
She was glad to hear that Leo was alright, albeit not sounding particularly thrilled with life at the moment. Maybe for multiple reasons.  
If he liked Frank, was talking to her unpleasant?  
When she mentioned them being friends, Leo didn't really respond, which said more than if he actually had. He said even less when Hazel disclosed some of the information in regards to Frank's past.  
  
It wasn't as though she was going to spill the entire can of beans, but Hazel hoped it would give Leo something to chew on and rattle his cage a bit.

When Leo admitted that Frank didn't trust him, and his reasoning why, Hazel paused. It would be a lot easier having this conversation face to face. Leo was obviously hiding something from Frank, something he thought would be more problematic than telling him the truth. More dangerous even.  
  
It was remarkably hard not to picture Sammy when Leo spoke. They didn't sound alike really, and not just because of Leo's current sore throat problems, even the cadence was different. It was a different accent all together. Still...  
  
No...  
  
Hazel realized, not Sammy. He wasn't the one she was picturing-- she saw the boy in her dream.  
  
-  
  
_“I have..._ no _idea what you did, but I love you.”_ Frank's voice filtered through the cellphone, in the early hours of the next morning. Hazel hadn't gotten much sleep, but then again, she hadn't gotten much sleep in the last 18 years.  
  
Hazel laughed, “he broke that quickly? I was expecting it to take a bit longer.”  
  
Not wanting to cook over a fire again, Hazel bit the bullet and went into town to gather more supplies but..also to stop by a little Ma and Pa diner and have a quick dinner/breakfast. She couldn't say much in the diner, but it sure beat sitting on a stump in the middle of the woods.  
  
_“He's never been that honest with me, I mean...never ever. I wouldn't be surprised if that was the most honest he's been...ever. In his life. Well, no, I think Jason knows something I don't...”_ Frank hummed in thought. Hazel smiled over her sunnyside up eggs.  
  
“I'm glad. It sounded like you guys were having a rough time. I hope you can get along a bit better now?” Is what she said, but in Morse on the acrylic table top she tapped out a message.  
'something is coming; people are mobilizing; at least two forces unlikely together.'  
  
Frank paused, and Hazel allowed the hidden message to sink in. Frank had gotten good, thanks apparently in part to Leo. He wasn't fast, but going from nearly no knowledge to being fluent in the time he had was impressive. It was strange though, that Leo knew Morse.  
Sammy had known Morse too.  
  
_“Well, it remains to be seen...I think there are some things we're not going to work around. But, right now at least, I think he's embarrassed enough with himself that this morning he barely looked me in the eye.”_ Frank's tone was initially a bit cold, and Hazel wasn't certain why. Hazel knew Frank like the back of her hand, so it was a bit odd to realize he had sides that maybe she wasn't as familiar with.  
  
'noted; seems to match what we've heard as well; luke has a group likely on the outside; nico likely has someone behind him as well.' Franks message back to her made Hazel frown briefly, really wishing she had more to go on.   
  
“Did he tell you he has a crush on you?” Hazel asked, teasing, but in reality she was honestly curious.  
'count on possibly three to four groups; I now believe the prison itself is partially responsible.'  
  
Frank faltered, nearly tripping over his own tongue, _“w-what?”_

Hazel wondered what part caught him up.  
  
“I don't know, it just seemed to me that maybe he likes you a bit. He seemed a bit uncomfortable talking to me.”  
  
_“I, uh...”_ Hazel could hear the fluster in Frank's voice. _“I don't...know. M- maybe?”_   
  
“Tell me, what does he look like?” Hazel took a sip of orange juice, switching the phone from one hand to another. There was an itch she wanted to scratch.  
  
_“I..don't know. He's..short, skinny, kind of unhealthy looking actually. Curly hair, uh..brown eyes. He's from Texas, Latino. He's got sort of...weirdly elven ears.”_   
  
Hazel's blood ran cold.  
On some level she knew, she suspected, but having it confirmed was another entirely.  
  
There was no doubt about it now. Leo Valdez was the boy from her dream. A boy who looked remarkably similar to the Sammy she knew.  
What were the chances? That they were related, and that he and Frank ended up in prison at the same time, in the same cell? That it was just a coincidence? Slim, at best.  
Something was strange. Something that went beyond what they knew now. Everything Leo had said, Hazel had to now see in a new light.  
Either, someone at the prison had purposely made sure this would happen, or Leo himself had. Could he be a monster, parading as Sammy? Why target Frank who didn't know what Sammy even looked like.  
  
But...talking to him on phone-- no, Hazel shook her head. Best not to let her emotions get the best of her.  
  
'be on guard; be on guard of him.' Hazel tapped out to Frank, sighing when she heard the 5 minute warning come through the phone.  
  
Then something else caught her eye. Hazel hadn't been paying a huge amount of attention to the people filing into the dinner, but she had heard a table of people being sat about halfway through the conversation.  
It wasn't until Hazel looked over, that for the second time, Hazel found herself frozen.  
  
That blonde girl was there. The one from the woods, the one with the orange shirt. She had eagle like gray eyes, and they were focused on Hazel. Her head was cocked to the side just slightly, like she was listening. It wasn't like Hazel had said anything damning out loud-  
  
No. This woman, she knew Morse code-- and she appeared to have worked out the fact they had been using a cypher. She was dangerous.  
  
“Frank, I have to go. I love you.” Hazel said shortly, not giving Frank enough time to respond before hanging up.  
  
Hazel put money on the stable, before standing up and walking towards the door. The blonde girl and her friends stood up as well. Hazel recognized a couple from monitoring the area, but not all.  
  
“Wait,” the girl called.  
  
“I was just moving this outside,” Hazel responded, turning to face the group. Were they human? Was Leo Valdez human?   
  
“My name is Annabeth Chase,” the blonde said curtly. “I think we need to talk.”  
  
“Oh,” Hazel smiled kindly. “I know what _talking_ means. But, I think that should probably wait for a later day. I'm sure you have some idea of when I mean?”  
  
Before the woman, Annabeth, had time to respond, Hazel vanished before their very eyes.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> man i don't know how to write anyone well, but regardless, i could easily rename this chapter 'hazel gets shit done. boys have drama'
> 
> This monster is nearly 50,000 words. THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A ONESHOT. Just wait, next thing you know Volcano will end up being like 300,000 words. I'm allergic to oneshots.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Caged becomes slightly less so

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Nearly there, mates. 2 chapters left.  
> Things get a bit jumbled before then.
> 
> I don't know how I feel about this chapter :/

\-----  
  


   Valdez had barely spoken to him for a week, and it was getting old fast. Frank didn’t mind him nursing a grudge for a while, but getting the silent treatment from someone you’re forced to live with didn’t really make life easier. Even more so, Frank wasn’t exactly sure what Valdez was actually bothered by. Was it Hazel herself, given their relationship? Was it the fact that she had gotten him to talk more openly to Frank? Was it simply the fact he _had_ spoken more openly? Maybe all of the above.  
  
“Are we going to talk anytime soon?” Frank asked the figure under a blanket on the top bunk. It moved in a way that suggested a shrug.   
  
“Right, well then, don’t let me disturb solitary blanket time you’ve got going up there.” Frank rolled his eyes and laid down.  
  
If he was being honest with himself, which Frank was actually trying to make a point of more recently, he’d admit that he actually missed Valdez sleeping next to him. They had sex, once, a mostly silent affair that ended with Valdez facing away from him the rest of the night.   
  
“Why?”  
  
Frank’s eyes cracked open at the voice. “Why what?”  
  
“Why tell her? You’re still going to, right?”

Frank pushed himself up onto his elbows , frowning. “Yes, I am. When I can do so face to face, and not over the phone.”  
  
A long sigh came from above. “Why though?”  
  
“It’s not that complicated, it’s because I love her.” Frank said it like it was the easiest thing in the world to admit, and for him, there was nothing that made him question his feelings for Hazel. For all of his failings, that would be one thing that would never change.  
  
“Then why tell her? I don’t get it.” It sounded like Valdez had turned over, or sat up himself. “You’ll lose her.”  
  
“Again, not that complicated. When you really, truly care for someone, you want what is best for them. And sometimes, it means taking a step back and realizing that it might not be you. ”   
  
Silence.  
  
“Of course, I don’t want to break up with her, she’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. But I love her. I want her to be happy. I don’t want to lie to her anymore, she’s worth so much more.”  
  
Silence.  
And then,  
“I understand.”  
  
Valdez said nothing more after that.  
  
-  
  
“Is that a cellphone?” Frank asked, walking into the lunchroom and towards their usual table. He sat next to Percy, as always, and Jason was sat next to Valdez.  
  
“Mhmm,” Jason nodded, apparently distracted by whatever was on the screen in Valdez’ hand.   
  
“It looks like it was made in 2002, where did you get it?” Frank said but Valdez didn’t even look up at him.  
  
“Stole it from a guard.”  
  
Frank expected as much, but still. He took a breath and exhaled slowly through his nose.   
  
“Before you start, need I remind you half of the guards here are corrupt?” Valdez said lowly, glancing up for just a second. Frank had no idea if Valdez was angry of if he was embarrassed or a bit of both.  
  
“I’m not starting anything.” Frank exhaled through his nose, counting down from 5. Nothing had changed; Valdez was purposely giving him the cold shoulder while at the same time desperately trying to start an argument.   
  
“Right, I forgot, you’re Canadian. You never start anything.”   
  
It was getting a bit tiresome.  
  
“How are things, Percy, Jason?” Frank asked, taking a bite of oatmeal.  
  
Percy shrugged, “you know how it is.” Not much to report on the Luke front in other words.  
  
“I’ve mostly just been watching Leo play games. “ Jason admitted. “It’s kind of fascinating.”  
  
“Really?” Frank feigned interest. “Usually him playing games gets old very quickly.”   
  
Valdez paused, before glaring down at the screen and definitely not at Frank.   
  
“Doesn’t this get boring?” Percy sighed. “All the drama? I strive for a drama-free existence.”   
  
Everyone else at the table snorted in disbelief.   
  
“Okay, maybe not. But…you two, _again_ , really? That’s all I’ve got to say, I’ve said my words, I’ve made my peace, I’m done.” Percy waved his hands like he had given up.  
  
“I have to agree, actually.” Jason said. “We need to work together, now more than ever, whatever it is…work it out.”   
  
Valdez sent Jason a look.  
Frank sighed, and shook his head. “He’s upset I know anything remotely related to him now. He said some things after Hazel got to him, and now he’s acting like a child.”  
  
Percy looked a bit nervous and exchanged a look with Valdez, who just gave a small shake of the head. That was new.   
  
“Trust me, I still know next to nothing about you, Valdez.” Frank assured, shaking his head. He wished he knew more, but after what Hazel said, he wasn’t sure that was a good idea.  
  
“Well, maybe there should be an exchange of information? You know something about him, maybe you should even the playing field?” Jason suggested, to which Frank sighed.  
  
“He found out stuff about my personal life beforehand. He’s upset we’re on even footing. You always like to be a few steps ahead, don’t you?” Frank addressed the last part to Valdez who sneered back at him.  
  
“It’s kept me alive, so, yes.”  
  
“Okay, how did this play out?” Percy asked, leaning forward.   
  
“Hazel calls me, tells me things about Frank, I was not well and told Frank …. _things_.” Valdez grumbled.   
  
“Okay, so, Frank, tell Leo stuff about Hazel.” Percy suggested. Valdez paused before his eyes lit up, and he looked at Percy like he had found a new best friend, while Jason looked a bit miffed.   
  
“Nope,” Frank said, shutting that down immediately. Valdez bounced in his seat, animated all of a sudden. Who knew this was all it would take, a little good fashion blackmail was apparently the best bait.  
  
“Come on, big guy, tell me a little something. “    
  
“No.”  
  
“Where she from, who her mama was, how’d you meet, how does she know morse code? Is she badass?”  
  
“Why’d we make them stop fighting?” Percy asked, looking at Jason.  
  
“Frank, buddy, this is a losing fight.” Jason said with a small smile. “Give in.”  
  
Frank stared at Valdez for a second, who gave him big sad puppy dog eyes, and for a moment felt like he was losing himself.  
  
“New Orleans, moved to Alaska. I’m not at liberty to say anything about her mother. We met on a bus headed for California. She was taught in school, I think. We both have quite a bit of experience in hand to hand combat, but she probably does look more badass than I do.”  
  
Valdez’ eyes lit up like Christmas eve.   
  
“She also thinks you have a crush on me.” Frank added the last bit and watched Valdez’ face fall.  
  
“You’re right, guys. Sharing _was_ a good idea.”    
  
Valdez stood up and left the room without so much as saying a word.  
  
“That probably… _wasn’t_ a good idea,” Jason said slowly. “That…was probably worse to say than anything else you could have possibly said, really.”  
  
“He wanted a fight,” was all Frank said.  
  
\---  
  
“How much do you know about Frank Zhang?” Nico said, after having grabbed Leo and hauled him down a darkened hallway, as was his overly dramatic signature. Though, Leo might not be one to talk on the dramatic front.  
  
“Why, _why_ this? Why do you have to accost people? It’s not cool.” Leo groaned. “I just got out the hospital not that long ago, this isn’t good for my heart.”  
  
“Oh, sorry Leo. I’m really sorry.” Nico said with faked sincerity, and Leo glared. “It’s not like the fate of the world is at stake or anything, let me ask about your ribs first. Also, on a side note, have you ever been to Tartarus? No?”  
  
“I’m sure that means something to you.” Leo said flatly. “And you are, in a way I do not understand, calling me a big baby.”  
  
“More or less, yes. Now, about Frank.”   
  
“He’s an asshole and I hate him.” Leo said shortly, and Nico rolled his eyes. What was with people rolling their eyes at him today?  
  
“Really though.”  
  
“What are you digging for? Might help cut down this guessing game you seem to love. You know, if you’re bored I’ve got a phone with a fair amount of apps on it. You like cats? I got one with a lot of cats.”  
  
“My associates believes she may have met Frank’s significant other, Hazel, and that she may be a demigod. We’re not sure what side she’d be on, but she definitely wasn’t willing to talk to Annabeth.”  
  
“What?” Leo blinked. “ _Hazel_? A demigod? How are you sure you got the right person…and how are you sure she is even a demigod in the first place?”  
  
“Well, they heard her talking to someone named Frank, and talking about the prison in morse code, so I’m pretty sure it was her.” Nico said dryly.  
  
“How did they know it was morse code?”  
  
“Annabeth is fluent in 10 languages, 3 of them dead. She knows morse code, suffice to say.”  
  
“Scary. And the demigod part?”  
  
“Have I really explained the mist well to you yet?” Nico asked, and Leo shrugged a shoulder. “The mist is the thing that veils our world, the magical world, and the normal world. It keeps regular humans from seeing what actually is right in front of them. It is an over overlooked, but an incredibly powerful force in our world. Occasionally humans can see through, but…People that _control_ the mist, they have to be exceptional magicians. Imagine fighting an opponent down to your last breath only to realize you’ve been fighting mist, or walking off a cliff because you thought it was a solid surface. Even demigods fall prey to it, Gods too at times.”  
  
“Is that what you do, with the…appearing out of nowhere thing?” Leo asked, curious. Nico shook his head.  
  
“No, I shadow travel. I use the darkness as a bridge basically, a type of teleportation. The mist is something else entirely.”  
  
“And this girl, the one you’re saying is Hazel…she used it?” Leo caught on pretty quickly to where Nico was leading him, but a bit of background information was useful.  
  
“Yes. She’d have to have trained for a long time usually, to be able to manage what she did. If she is Hazel, if she has known Frank as long as they seem to …”  
  
“Then…It’s unlikely that Frank doesn’t know.”  
  
“Right.”  
  
Leo was silent. If Frank was a demigod, or knew about demigods, that could make Leo’s life a lot easier. Or…maybe it wouldn’t.   
Even if Frank found out about Leo, even accepted him, sympathized with him, it’s not like they could…what, elope or something? Frank still had Hazel, and Nico painted the picture of Hazel being incredibly strong…enough to worry Nico apparently. A _trained_ demigod, not like Leo or Percy.  
  
“It makes sense, actually.” Leo said, starting slowly. Nico looked curious. “Frank said he had been homeless, Hazel mentioned he lost family mid-teens under… odd circumstances. Frank was arrested for…massive destruction of property. He said they were both experienced in armed combat. And, she definitely had a way with words.  He said he wouldn’t say anything about her mother.”  
  
“Our current theory is Hecate. She is one of the few Goddesses well trained with the mist.”

“It…actually makes sense, putting it all together like this. “  
  
“You look upset.”  
  
“It makes things easier, and harder to give up.”   
  
“I’m sorry.” Nico said, tone serious for once.   
  
They both stood in silence for a moment, thinking through the possibilities, game plans, how to address what lay in front of them. And then Leo remembered something.  
  
“Oh, by the way, Percy is a demigod too.” Leo waved his hand, forgetting he hadn’t talked to Nico since Percy’s little admission.  
  
“He’s what now?” Nico blinked, shocked. “Percy Jackson? We’re talking about the same guy right? Draws faces in his potatoes, Percy Jackson?”  
  
“Percy who can dead lift 300lbs with relative ease Jackson. Yeah, that guy.” Leo added. “Percy who is in prison for who knows why circumstances, across the country from where he was born. Does that really sound that far fetched?”  
  
Nico looked peeved. “How do you know?”  
  
“I literally saw him control water like a fucking water bender.”  
  
“Water?” Nico looked surprised, even more so than the idea of Percy being a demigod.  
  
“Yeah, why? I was thinking like Poseidon or Oceanus someone, right? They’re the ocean dudes?”  
  
“No. Oceanus is a titan, and a sleeping one. Poseidon…it...can’t be. If Percy Jackson is…No, it’s more likely his mother was a naiad or something…Probably.”  
  
“Why can’t it be Poseidon?”  
  
“Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades signed an agreement after World War Two, to never have children with mortals ever again.”  
  
“…Wait aren’t you Hades kid?”  
  
“I was born before the pact and then spent around 70 years in a casino, not aging and unaware.”  
  
“…Right, but the point you’re making is there have been no demigods from those parents since.”  
  
“…Well, I mean. There was one. A child of Zeus. Thalia.”  
  
“The point you’re now making is they’re all hornballs.”  
  
Nico shrugged, “more or less.”  
  
\---  
  
Frank caught up to Leo, much to Leo’s chagrin, not that long after his talk with Nico. He was kind of hoping to digest the information he had been given a bit longer.  
  
“Leo,” Frank started, looking Leo once over and taking in his stance.  
  
“Oh, don’t _Leo_ me.”  
  
“So you’re talking to me again, great. I think.”  
  
“Only to tell you that you can go down on yourself. There are some things that can’t be said with emojis. Admittedly I haven’t tried.”  
  
Frank laughed, and shook his head. “You’re feeling better, that’s good. I kind of thought I might have made it worse.”  
  
“Fuck you. I mean it. Pants down.”  
  
“Jokes aside,” Frank gave him a rather pointed look. “You know why I said it. You wanted a fight, I gave you one. I don’t _actually_ want to fight with you. I wish you’d just…talk to me. I understand, you know. I do. Keeping everything private as a way to survive, I get it, I was homeless…I survived on the streets, in the woods, wherever. I understand Leo, I understand probably better than anyone else here. Just, talk to me. I thought we were sort of getting somewhere. I'm sorry I used that against you.”  
  
“Have you considered I’m pulling away on purpose?” Leo sighed after a moment. “That maybe, it’d be better for both of us in the end?”  
  
“Don’t pull away.” Frank said softly, and Leo wanted to punch a wall.   
  
“Stupid cute- ugh, what do you know about demigods?” Leo asked, turning to face Frank fully.   
  
This was it. Throw caution to the wall, stick your hand into the vipers pit, tongue into a ceiling fan. Frank was going to continue this little charade until every last board of this bridge was burnt down and they had nothing left. If he wanted it end like that, then fine. Leo would play along.  
  
Except Frank looked confused.   
  
“Demigods? Is this about the mythology book Luke told you to read?”   
  
“Just answer the question, Zhang. Children of deities, how do you feel about it.”  
  
“…Ambivalent?” Frank said slowly, trying to gauge Leo’s reaction.  
  
“So if I were to ask, Frank, are you a demigod?”  
  
“I’d say I’m probably too fat? I’ve seen those statues. I mean, I think I have a sixpack somewhere below the soft. Granted, I think I’m more gifted in other areas.” Frank, looking very nearly amused.  
  
Leo paused. “Well, yes, there is that. Man, what is with those tiny dicks on- okay, no, off topic. If I were to say, Frank, I am a demigod…You’d say what?”  
  
“I think you’re too small and skinny, and don’t have nearly the amount of muscle. Again, judging by statues. What’s this about?” Frank thought this was a game, while amusing, not helpful.  
  
Leo groaned. Frank didn’t know, that much was for sure, or he was an amazing liar.   
Maybe the girl wasn’t Hazel…or maybe Hazel’s been hiding something from Frank. Either way, he had no idea about demigods.  
  
…Except neither had Leo until…Luke.  
  
“Okay, let me rephrase this whole conversation. True or false, you and Hazel both had at least one estranged parent?”  
  
Frank stared, face becoming more serious as he realized this wasn’t a playful conversation.  
  
“Our fathers.” He answered, and Leo sighed in relief. Now he was getting somewhere.  
  
“If I mentioned p-“  
  
A blast rocked the facility, and Leo tripped into Frank. They stared at one another briefly before both their eyes went wide.  
  
“It’s happening.”  
  
\---  
  
"I can't believe this is happening right now."   
  
“Had you heard anything?” Frank yelled, while they ran towards the noise. Valdez didn’t look like it, but he was actually a pretty fast runner and kept up with Frank.  
  
“No,” he shook his head. “Luke hasn’t spoken to me. I talked to Nico earlier, I don’t think he knew anything either!”  
  
“This is weird.” Frank said shortly, turning a corner, and Valdez agreed. "Wait, what did you talk to Nico about?"  
  
“Where do you think it came from?” Valdez asked, ignoring the last part of the question.  
  
“Outer wall I think, I don’t think it was the main facility. Not just yet. But they’ll be out soon, and any guards not bought off will probably be swarming.” Frank said.  
  
Valdez slowed down to a trot, which caused Frank to stop and look back.   
  
“What are you doing?! We need to go!”  
  
“This is it…we…didn’t even get a chance to talk or anything. It’s just…” Valdez shook his head before starting to jog again. “Nothing. Don’t worry about it.”  
  
Frank grabbed his arm, swung him up against the wall and kissed him. It wasn’t soft, it wasn’t particularly kind, but each spot that Frank was touching radiated warmth.  It was sort of hard to pull away.  
  
“Leo. I like you. I really like you. I really shouldn’t, but I do. We’re not done. We get out together. I want to know who you are outside of all this. No more questions, not until then.”   
  
Valdez eyes had gone wide, stunned silent for once, before he nodded.  
  
“I’ll tell you everything, I promise you. Frank, I _promise_.”   
  
-  
  
It was the main cafeteria, around 30 inmates, mostly from Luke’s crew were gathered there. Luke himself noticed when they ran in, and waved cheerfully. Ethan Nakamura watched from a nearby wall, not saying anything or showing any emotion.   
  
“Oh good, you made it. Your friends are already here, arrived a bit early.” Luke gestured, to two large lunkheads holding onto Percy and Jason by the nearest table. Both looked ready to start something, but as though they were holding back for whatever reason.  
  
“You’re _scum_. You're endangering everyone here.” Frank hissed, stepping forward. “If I-“  
  
“I wouldn’t advise that, Zhang.” Luke said coldly, pulling out a sword from who knows where and pointing it at the man. The sword itself was odd looking, it was unlike any machete or utility knife that Frank had ever seen. It looked more old fashion, like something out of a museum. It looked to be made of two separate metals, something else Frank had never seen. But, one was likely bronze, not the strongest metal in the world. It was still possible, if Frank found something of a stronger metal, even something like a chair leg, he could probably stand a chance against Luke in a fight.  
  
 “Leo, get your experiment in futility under control.” Luke smirked, as Frank surveyed the room.  
  
“Frank,” Valdez hissed, tugging on his jumper. “ _Stop_. You can’t do shit with puncture wounds in your kidneys.”  
  
“You don’t hurt my friends and get away with it.” Frank yelled, ignoring Valdez’ protests and Luke laughed.   
  
“Ah, so brave, so noble.  You remind me of a few people, really. You, of course, have no idea what any of this is about. Leo does…Percy does…Nico certainly does. But, they’re not telling you or poor Jason here anything. Sad, or…maybe I mean pathetic.” Luke sighed dramatically, but then again he seemed to do everything a bit dramatically.  
  
“Boss, it’s set.” A goon muttered, walking up to Luke who nodded.  
  
“Actually, Luke.” Jason started, eyes sharp and dangerous. “I know quite a bit. You know Hylla, don’t you? Her sister sent me.”  
  
That seemed to stop Luke dead in his tracks, and color drained from his face.   
  
“There is no way…You…All this time.”  
  
“I was sent to monitor you.” Jason said before he turned quickly and broke out of the grasp he was in, elbowing the other man in the chin and sending him to the floor before looking to Luke.  
  
Valdez cheered, as Luke backed up. Percy, in the commotion, took his own chance to break free, and while it wasn’t as flashy as Jason, Percy seemed well adept at fighting too.   
As other inmates joined in, fighting against Jason and Percy alone, Luke stayed still.   
  
“It’s too late.” Luke shook his head. “It’s all too late.”  
  
Frank took this as his chance, while Luke was distracted, and bolted forward and slammed Luke into the floor. The blade the blond had been holding tumbled out of his hand and reach.  
  
“How do you feel about maximum security? Because, you’re right,” Frank responded with a grin. “It’s too late for you, Castellan.”  
  
Luke twisted his head around just enough to look Frank in the eyes, and his eyes were like liquid gold. Frank froze.  
  
“You have _no_ idea.” Luke laughed bitterly, until the wall next to them blew up.   
  
\---  
  
Frank woke up to the sound of fire crackling, which immediately had him sitting up ready to yell holy hell at Valdez once again. But, he wasn’t in his cell. There were gnarled trees illuminated by the fires light, wind blowing in the soft scent of grasses and sweet poplars off in the distance. It wasn’t just nature that caught his attention, but shadowed figures in states of sitting and standing around him.   
What had happened in the prison rushed to him, causing an unpleasant headache to take hold.  
  
“Where-…what?” Frank muttered, glancing around for familiar shapes. Where was Valdez? Where was Percy and Jason? Where was Castellan?  
  
“Frank, calm down.” A familiar voice rang out, somehow bringing a sense of clarity and even more confusion to him.   
  
Frank turned to see Hazel smiling down at him.   
  
“ _Hazel_? Where are we, what is this? Where is everyone?”  
  
Hazel’s expression softened and she shook her head.  
  
“We need to talk, about a lot of things…But first…” Hazel wrapped her arms around his neck, and Frank momentarily fought the urge to cry. The familiarity of her shape, the longing he felt, the nostalgia of her smell. Oh gods, how he had missed her. He pulled her even closer, into a tighter hug, not ever wanting to let go again.  
  
“I’ve got more firewood- oh, sorry.” Frank looked up, focusing on the person walking up to them.  
  
“Jason!” Frank exclaimed happily, and Hazel pulled away with a smile. Jason had, at some point, changed into different clothes, a far cry from his prison jumper. Just jeans, a jacket, and a purple shirt.  
  
“He just woke up, I haven’t explained anything to him yet.” Hazel said quickly.   
  
“Where are the others?” Frank asked, looking around at the other people, but none of them seemed familiar. They seemed to be purposely not paying much attention to Frank.  Jason bit his lower lip, and shook his head.  
  
“We’re looking, but we haven’t found Percy or Leo yet. But, I’m sure we will, it’s just everyone made a beeline as soon as the wall was open. There was a lot of smoke and confusion; no one could tell who was who. I was trying to find Luke, but I found you instead, passed out from the blast. It was chaos”  
  
“Then I found Jason,” Hazel added, nodding to Jason. “We had a long talk.”  
  
There was a sinking feeling in Frank’s gut, but Jason’s expression didn’t seem to suggest he had talked about the nature of Frank and Valdez’ relationship.  
  
“And then we found all of you,” another voice called, and a stern looking woman walked up to Frank. “Hello, my name is Reyna Ramirez-Arellano and I’m from New Rome.  We have a lot to talk about.”  
  
“So you’ve all said.” Frank returned, glancing at Hazel and Jason. “What about exactly?”  
  
“An establishment of demigods in California.”  
  
Frank’s expression tightened in confusion, hadn’t Valdez just been talking about something like this?  
  
“Demigods? “  
  
Reyna nodded. “Yes, children born from a human relationship with a God. Though many of our residents are multi-generational, maybe more or less than exactly half.”  
  
“You’re insane.” Frank said flatly, crossing his arms, only to realize that he was also wearing a purple shirt. Someone had changed him out of his jumper. He really hoped it was Hazel, and not Jason or any other random person here.  
This was obscenely strange, it felt to him like less than a few moments ago he had been in prison, facing down Luke with Valdez next to him. Now, here he was with Hazel again…and no Leo. It was hard to sort out his emotions.  
  
“You can see monsters, creatures, things that persue you, yes?” Reyna asked, and Frank paused in his line of thoughts.   
“I already know what you’re capable of, Mr. Zhang. Hazel informed me when we caught up with her. You’re not alone there are hundreds upon hundreds of us. People with powers living together, defending each other. Relatively speaking, living normal lives.”   
  
Frank blinked, looking towards Hazel for explanations.  
  
“When Reyna showed up, with her dogs, she said she could tell…or they could tell who we were. I didn’t believe her at first, but she made a fairly compelling argument.” Hazel said. Dogs, Frank wondered, only to see, off near the tree line, two terrifying looking metallic hounds in gold and silver hues.   
  
“What kind of argument?” Frank muttered, still looking at the dogs.  
  
“Well, this kind.” Jason said, stepping forward before beginning to levitate off the ground. “I can fly, amongst other things.”  
  
Franks jaw dropped, and he craned his head to see how the trick was being done.   
  
“They also described perfectly some of the things we’ve seen Frank.” Hazel said.   
“Our experiences, the reason why we were supposed to go to California in the first place. It’s this, it’s them. The flying just sort of helped me stick around and listen. It’s everything else. I think I know who my father is now, Frank.”  
  
Hazel’s expression was earnest, her eyes clear and confident.  
  
“Okay. Okay, I’ll listen. Though, Jason, it might have been helpful if you had mentioned you could fly…I don’t know...in prison maybe?”   
  
“Sorry,” Jason laughed. “I was undercover. Flying is sort of a coverblower.”  
  
“Hazel,” Frank turned to her. “Where have you been all this time? How did you even find eachother?”  
  
“In the woods, mostly. I had a place, it was fairly safe, and I could keep an eye on the prison. I went into town for research, and food sometimes. It wasn’t hard, not really, not by itself; but, gods, I missed you.” Hazel sighed, grabbing tightly onto his hands.  
“I’ve been so worried. I’ve been going back and forth, looking up anyone, everyone I could. I looked up employees, new inmates, anything. I just wanted to make sure you were safe. When I heard you were in the hospital ward…” Hazel trailed off, before shaking herself out of her stupor.  
  
“This last week took me by surprise. After I talked to you last, these people started to follow me, or at the very least were looking for me. They found my campsite, so I left it there. I don’t know if they were working with Luke or not, but I couldn’t stop moving. I couldn’t tell how much more things were mobilizing, I’m sorry. I didn’t know Castellan would carry out the escape like he did, I should have but-“  
  
“Hazel,” Frank stopped her. “It’s fine. You were amazing. You did an amazing job. No one in their right mind would blame you for that.”  
  
Hazel let out a shakey sigh, as her frame began to relax.  
  
“You could have gotten hurt though.”  
  
“So could you,” Frank gave a small smile. “I’m very glad you weren’t. All things considered…it wasn’t half bad.”  
  
“Except Luke Castellan, and a large number of his followers escaped in trucks.” Reyna added, cutting into their moment. "It appears to have been a fairly simply operation. They brought in transport, created a diversion...that was the first blast, and after that they all joined in an area large enough to house them and move them out quickly. A door simply wouldn't do it, and the lunchroom it seemed they deemed the best launching point. I'm sure there was help from the inside, otherwise there should have been no way to place the explosives like they did."  
  
“And we’ve yet to find Percy or Leo,” Jason sighed.   
  
“Jason, you said you were investigating…were there any other demigods?” Frank turned to his blond friend, who shrugged a shoulder.  
  
Frank had a hard time accepting the term demigod. He certainly didn’t feel like he was half god, though it was true he had never known his father. And, he sort of had some magical abilities, and fought monsters on a regular basis. But, still. What were the chances of a Chinese Canadian kid from outside Vancouver being half deity?  
  
“Well, I’ve wondered if Percy was, there was a reason I became his cellmate after all. I think there is a good probability that Leo is too, given everything. “ Jason said.  
  
“However, I’ve never heard of any fire using and/or fire-proof demigods.” Reyna said, shooting a look at Jason.   
  
“I don’t think he is.” Hazel said suddenly, and Frank looked at her in surprise. “I think he might be a monster too.”  
  
“What?” Frank asked, feeling like his throat had turned to cotton. “No, I was asking because Leo brought up demigods to me, today I think…My brains a little scrambled, but I know he asked at some point.”  
  
“There’s no way,” Jason shook his head. “Leo is my friend. I’d know if he was a monster. I’ve never even seen any humanoid monsters. Not that convincing.”  
  
“Sammy Valdez.” Hazel said, and Frank froze. Sammy, who was Sammy again? He knew the name.  
  
“Sammy Valdez was my first boyfriend.” Hazel added, and Frank felt his stomach turn. “We went to school together in Louisiana. He was a good guy. He defended me, defended other people, and he was smart and funny. As I’ve already explained to Reyna, Jason, and the others…this was in the 1930’s and 40’s. Before I moved to Alaska, before I died. “  
  
“Valdez isn’t an uncommon name, especially in the south.” Reyna added, and Hazel shook her head.   
  
“I have a single picture of Sammy. Frank hasn’t seen it, I didn’t really know how to explain that I kept a picture of my first boyfriend when we first met, but then I forgot about it…until Frank started talking about Leo. I found it again after…something happened.” Hazel reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a small worn envelope, and gently coaxed out the photo inside, before holding it up for the others to see.  
  
“Is this, or is this not Leo Valdez?”  
  
Frank couldn’t move. The photo was worn in places, and black and white, but it had to be Leo. It had to be.   
  
“Ask yourselves, what is the chance of them being identical? What is the chance that a boy who ends up in prison, at the same time, same place as all of you…as Castellan…someone who appears to be immune to things that would kill a normal human being…happens to look _exactly_ like someone I used to know?” Hazel finished, looking back down at the photo. Her muscles were tense but it was obvious she was taking care not to hurt the photograph in any way.  
  
“I would ask though, if that was the case that you’d think he’d target _you_ in some way. It doesn’t appear as though he’s hurt anyone except minor injuries to other inmates.” Reyna crossed her legs, and one of her dogs curled up at her feet.   
  
“His cellmate is my boyfriend, he was put specifically in Frank’s cell. It isn’t that unreasonable that he’d try to get information is it?” Hazel responded.  
  
“Still, why purposely make himself resemble someone you know, if he was primarily only going to be around someone who had no idea what it would mean?” Reyna retorted, and Hazel paused. “How would it get back to you, and why would simply his existence be so damaging, since he hasn’t hurt Frank has he? Not intentionally it sounds like."  
  
Jason looked a bit taken back, and Frank’s mind was spinning and he didn’t think it was just his headache.  
  
Of course he had played with the idea that Valdez was a monster at times, but he’d moved away from that.   
But Frank couldn’t deny that photograph, and if he had to trust Hazel or Leo Valdez, Frank knew the answer was going to be Hazel.  
Leo Valdez, was his appearance some sort of coincidence? Fate even? Or, was he a monster, something created to cause hurt and divide. It was a hard question to contemplate, because while Frank had feeling for him, he knew they were nothing helpful.   
Everything that Leo Valdez had said though, every interaction they had had, was it all an elaborate plot?   
  
Frank didn’t want to think so. But, in the end it changed nothing. His headache, or maybe it was guilt, bit away at the inside of his mind.   
  
“I…think I might know why.” Frank said after a moment, and Hazel turned to look at him. “Can...we talk? In private?” Frank added, looking pleadingly at Jason and Reyna.  
  
“Of course,” Reyna nodded, before standing up and leaving and others followed. Jason glanced at Frank, a sympathetic, yet sad look on his face. It was obvious what was to come.  
  
“What…is this about?” Hazel asked, her body was tensed already. She was smart, and knew something bad was coming, even if she didn’t know what.  
  
“I…don’t know how to really begin. I don’t know how to say this, besides just saying it…” Frank took a shaky breath. He knew this day would come, but he had no idea it would be today. He didn’t prepare himself for it.  
  
“I cheated on you.”  
  
Hazel’s eyes widened, she looked like someone had physically struck her.   
  
“What?” Her voice was quiet and cold. “What?...How-… _Who_?”  
  
Frank wanted to flinch away, feeling like a little boy all of a sudden. But he wouldn’t, he wouldn’t run away from this. He owed it to Hazel.  
  
“…Leo Valdez.”  
  
Frank couldn’t really believe that everything Valdez had done had been an act, it seemed impossible.   
And yet, as he looked at the tears running down the face of the girl he loved, Frank couldn’t deny that Leo Valdez’ existence had hurt Hazel’s.  
  
But how much of that blame lay in Leo’s hands, rather than Franks own?  
At the end of the day, Frank knew who was really at fault.  
  
\-----  
  
  
“Frank!” Leo shouted, before coughing on dust.  “Frank! Where are you?!”   
  
The wall of the prison now had a fairly spectacular hole in it. Chunks of rubble lay all around, and Leo had tripped multiple times already.   
  
He was further back when chaos emerged, but it still left him with a high pitched screaming in his head that blocked out much of the surrounding shouts and sirens. Momentarily knocked to the floor, Leo had been slow to raise, his previous injuries screaming at him again. Surely, the dust he was breathing in wouldn’t do any favors to his already damaged lungs.  
  
Frank and Luke were closest to the wall when it happened, and Leo couldn’t tell what happened to them. He felt sick.  
  
“Frank!” Leo called again, knowing he probably wouldn’t be able to hear a reply even if there was one to be had. He tried was trying to search around the rubble, regardless of not knowing what he’d do if he actually found a body.   
He hadn’t seen Jason or Percy either.   
  
“Please, somebody…not again.” Leo pleaded, desperately pushing pieces of rock and mortar away, retracing his steps in case he missed something in the haze created by the explosion.  
  
Then someone grabbed him on the shoulder, and Leo spun to look around.  
  
“Leo! You’re okay!” Percy exclaimed, probably louder than he needed to. They were likely just as deaf as the other. Percy’s hair was mussed and gray with dirt and dust that was also smeared on his face from sweat.   
  
“Holy shit, Percy,” Leo laughed slash sobbed. “I’m …really glad you’re alive.”  
  
“Not sure what that pause was about, but yeah, you too.”  
  
“Have you seen Frank and Jason?” Leo asked, and Percy shook his head.  
  
“No, but I think they got out. There’s no one under the rubble, I already checked.”   
  
“Are you sure?”   
  
“Yeah, I have a light, and it’s easier to tell from outside than in here.“ Percy held up a guard’s flashlight, Leo wondered when he had the time to get it.   
  
“We should go, they might be looking for us since everyone ran…every possible direction.”  
  
“Wait, Percy, why are you here? Why did you come back?” Leo paused, confused.  
  
“I…uh, not sure actually. I just got the feeling I really needed to come back, and my intuition tends to be fairly good. I found you, after all.” Percy grinned awkwardly. And Leo smiled and shook his head.   
  
“Well, thank your intuition for me then. Let’s go.”  
  
They got out, and Percy was right, it was clearer on the outside, but it was getting darker fast. There were sirens in the distance and the sounds of helicopters likely scanning the area for escapees.   
  
Percy and Leo got to cover under a line of trees and waited until one passed over head. It was an unmarked Black Hawk, not a police chopper like Leo had been expecting.  
  
“How far do you think we’ll get?” Leo asked quietly.   
  
“Don’t know. I usually just wing it.” Percy shrugged, scanning the skies.   
  
“Do you think we’ll find Frank and Jason?” Leo prompted further, and Percy shrugged a shoulder.   
  
“Hope so.”  
  
“Need help?” Percy and Leo swiveled towards a stranger’s voice. Three girls, and Nico stood in front of them.  
  
“I told you there was going to be an extraction team,” Nico said with a sigh. “Why run off, I _told_ you-“  
  
“Hello, I’m Annabeth Chase, and this is Thalia, a hunter of Artemis.” The blond woman, Annabeth introduced herself, and a sort of punk rock looking teenager standing next to her.  
  
“I’m Piper,” the third girl said with a small grin and wave.   
  
“That’s nice,” Leo ignored them all. “Where are Frank and Jason?”  
  
“Not in the area,” Thalia said simply. Nico looked a bit sheepish.  
  
“We, uh…haven’t found them. I’ve been looking, the hunters have been looking.”  
  
“What does that mean, not in the area?” Percy asked, tilting his head with a frown.   
  
“Yes, Nico, what does that mean?” Leo took a step forward, and Nico frowned.  
  
“Are you angry?”  
  
“I might be.”  
  
“Not the only one,” Percy added in. “Sounds like you’ve been keeping a _hell_ of a lot of secrets, ghost boy.”  
  
“Hell,” Thalia laughed. “Oh, that’s funny. Get it, Nico?”  
  
Nico shot her a glare. “I get it, Thalia. Look, we can explain back at camp.”  
  
“No. I’m finding Frank, end of story.” Leo snapped.   
  
“Look, kiddo, we can find your boyfriend, no biggie. What we mean is, if we can’t find him in this area it probably means he was already picked up by the police. We _will_ find them. We’ll find him, transport him and your friend...Jake?”  
  
“Jason.”  
  
“Right, wow, don’t know how I forgot that name. Okay, so, we’ll find them, bring them back. It’s no problem, but you guys sticking around here won’t help anything.”  
  
“Nico, it is getting dark out, isn’t it?” Annabeth said calmly, and Nico nodded and Leo suddenly remembered something about Nico’s powers.  
  
“Oh, fuck you, no you-“  
  
There was a tugging sensation, followed by sort of a whirlwind, inside of a washing machine, vomit-y sensation, and suddenly Leo was standing in a completely different place.  
  
And then he was running over to a bush to vomit profusely.  
  
“You get used to it,” a girls voice said, patting him on the back. Leo glanced up, it was the other girl from before, Piper. She had weird eyes.  
  
“I doubt it,” Leo croaked and Piper laughed.  
  
“Woah, can we do that again?” Percy asked somewhere in the background.  
  
-  
  
Two weeks later and they’d yet to find Frank or Jason.   
  
Leo was getting pretty used to Camp Half Blood, granted it was a bit sparse and there were a lot of younger kids. But, they were kids with similar back stories, and some of those kids were Leo’s half siblings. In some ways, it reminded him of being in the system, but a lot less negative.  
Hephaestus, his father, claimed him not long after he had reached camp; though Percy’s father had yet to.  
  
“He wasn’t arrested, we’ve checked.“ Nico said slowly, and Leo nodded wordlessly from his work station in Bunker 9.   
  
“We can’t find him anywhere. Not in any hospitals, no John Does, nothing on any paperwork anywhere.”  
  
“Right,” Leo said hollowly. “Which means…”  
  
“They likely fled. The girl, Hazel, that Annabeth saw has also not been seen again. It’s possible it’s due to the mist, but I haven’t sensed them anywhere in the area either.”  
  
“Fled.” Leo repeated the word, tapping his fingers. “ _Left_.”  
  
Nico paused, “I’m sorry, Leo.”  
  
“Right.” Leo stood, and left the workshop, left Nico behind without saying anything more.   
  
Frank had left, ran away, fled, with his girlfriend…maybe with Jason too…or maybe Jason took off by himself, either way, the truth was undeniable.  
  
Frank left. Leo shouldn’t have expected more, should have never expected anything. It was his own fault. Frank was loyal to Hazel, Leo always knew that…maybe not loyal in every single manner, but when push came to shove, Frank was always going to chose her over him.  
In some small part of him, Leo heard the words Frank had told him. In some small way, Leo was happy that Frank got a chance at happiness with someone he actually really loved.   
  
But why did he have to lie? To get Leo’s hopes up? To make him think there was something more?  
  
Leo promised he’d tell Frank the truth about everything, and Frank didn’t even give him the chance.  
  
“Leo?” Piper asked, Leo hadn’t even heard her come up.  
  
“Yup?” Leo asked, turning on the fake, stuffing his hands in his pockets to hide the fact they were shaking. “What’s up beauty queen?”   
  
“Leo,” Piper said softly. “Don’t do that, not to me.”  
  
“I don’t know what you’re…talking about.” Leo faltered, his voice fading.  
  
“You know who my mom is, Leo. I can sense heartbreak miles away. Do you want to talk about it?”  
  
“I’d kind of like to do anything but talk about it actually.”  
  
“…How about we put on dorky pajamas and watch really bad movies my dad made while drinking hot cocoa with peeps for marshmallows?”  
  
“You’re the best.”  
  
Piper was possibly the best thing to come from all of this. Besides Jason, Leo hadn’t felt like he had had an honest friendship in quite some time, but Piper immediately endeared herself to Leo. There was 0 attraction, either way, but they almost immediately picked up a sibling-like relationship.   
  
It wasn’t until late into the night or maybe early into the morning that Leo sighed and leaned up against Piper.  
  
“I think… I fell in love and he left me behind, I know I shouldn’t have expected much and maybe it’s even my own fault but…it still hurts …I can't even blame him, either. I’ve never felt like I was worth anything before, but I really…really feel like nothing now. Also my friend Jason bugged off too, and that kind of sucks.”  
  
Piper wrapped her arm around him.   
  
“Well, I’m not going to date you…or try and replace your friend, but if you need an over protective big sister I’ll be here for you. Because you are, you know. Worth something.”  
  
Leo smiled, even if he didn’t really believe it, when Piper was the one to say it he felt like he almost could.   
-  
  
The next day, Percy paid the bunker a visit. Percy and Leo had never been all that close in prison, and now that they were at camp, Percy had taken quite quickly to all the activities available, but they still kept up a tentative friendship. Percy had been staying in the Hermes cabin for the time being, until he was claimed, but wasn't hugely thrilled about it. He knew who Luke's father had been.  
  
“I was thinking,” Percy started, rotating a pen between his fingers. “Maybe Luke got to them. Jason and Frank.”  
  
Leo paused, then frowned. “Maybe.”   
  
He liked that explanation better than he got up and ditched, but it would mean they were hostages if so and that wasn’t great either.  
  
“It makes sense, right? Jason went after Luke, Frank went after Luke. We don’t see any of them again, and can’t find them again. Maybe Luke wanted revenge, kidnapped them.”  
  
“Then they’d probably be in a mortuary or at the bottom on the bay.”   
  
“The hunters looked, didn’t find anything. They could be holding them for the future, since we both know them, and Luke knows we’re demigods.” Percy suggested.  
  
“Or, alternatively, they’re both assholes.” Leo sighed, putting down his current project he was doing to take his mind off of everything.   
  
“I don’t want to believe that.”   
  
“You might have to.”   
  
“I don’t want to believe two of my only friends in the last 5 years just up and left. I’ve had a lot of experience in my life with terrible people, I can tell them from a crowd pretty well, Jason and Frank were not those people.” Percy’s expression was steadfast, and Leo remembered he hadn’t been the only one left behind.  
  
“I’m sorry, Percy.”  Leo shook his head. “I hope you’re right, man, I really do.”  
  
-  
  
A year later, and Percy was not.   
  
Luke had very nearly destroyed the earth, but in the end Kronus’ powers failed amongst the joint strength of God and Demigod. Luke had been being used, a vulnerable young man upset with the world manipulated into doing dark deeds. Luke, in the end realized his mistakes, though it took the deaths of many of his friends and campers to do so.   
Luke did not die, though his injury was severe and rendered him into a wheelchair.   
Luke joked, after, the irony of the son of Hermes not being able to walk let alone fly. Hermes took this as a challenge, and Luke ended up in a hovering wheelchair.   
  
He’d not be allowed back into camp, and most campers wouldn't want him there. Too many lives had been lost, crimes that wouldn't be forgiven. Last anyone had heard was Luke Castellan was doing tasks with his father, and that was the most anyone would likely hear for much time to come.   
  
However, Luke did stay around long enough to inform a battle worn Percy Jackson that, no, he had no idea what had happened to either Jason or Frank. His forces were not behind their disappearances, leaving only one option.  
They left of their own accord.  
  
“How hard do you think it would be to say, build a working ironman suit?” Leo asked Piper, who was currently going through paperwork needed of a head of cabin.   
  
“For you? Not very. How successful would it be? Not very.” She muttered around the end of a pen that she was currently gnawing on.  
  
“What about Calypso?” Piper asked after a moment, and Leo raised an eyebrow.  
  
“Island girl? What about her?”  
  
“She’s cute, you should ask her out.”  
  
Leo stared blankly, he had one singular conversation with Calypso that went along the lines of:  
-‘Hey, I’m Leo-‘   
-‘ _No_.’  
  
“Really Piper, really?” Leo snorted. “What brings this about?”  
  
“I don’t know. You’re similar is all.”  
  
“How s-…..You mean we’re both not over guys who left us, don’t you.” Percy had been the one to meet Calypso, and was responsible for her being freed after his little outburst at the Gods in Olympus. Leo wasn't the only one similar to Calypso, Percy also knew what it felt to be imprisoned and didn't want anyone else to feel that way.   
  
“It’s a bonding point,” Piper shrugged, and Leo rolled his eyes.  
  
“Piper, Leo?” Annabeth stuck her head into the doorway. “We're having a meeting. Well, Nico has something to talk about.”   
  
-  
  
Nico di Angelo had been traveling on his own for a while, he needed time away after everything that had happened following the battle against Kronus. He had been curious, after hearing rumors from ghosts about something in the San Francisco area. Nico had thought it odd that the battle in the west simply ended, and the palace and throne had fallen, and now more than ever he was starting to suspect something else was at play. Nothing was ever easy for them.  
  
His theories were proven correct when he stumbled onto New Rome, and an arrow nearly implanted into his skull.   
  
At the time he had no idea what this place was, but the architecture was steadfastly different than anything else in California. It looked Greek…almost. When he spotted the patrolling guards, that’s when it sunk in.   
They _had_ to be demigods, a separate camp of demigods on the west coast.  
  
It made sense, but why hadn’t anyone told him? Wouldn’t Chiron have thought to mention it? Not to mention this camp looked much larger than Camp Half Blood.  
  
Then the arrow thing happened, and while Nico could have certainly gotten away with ease, he was curious to see what this place was, so he held up his hands in a universal ‘I surrender’ motion.  
  
“Who are y-…. _Nico_?” One guard said, obviously taken back. Nico turned to see whoever this was who knew his name, but the figure was wearing a helmet.   
However, there weren’t many people built like that in the world.  
  
“ _Frank_?” Nico asked, nearly as shocked as Frank was. “You’re a demigod.”  
  
“Frank,” the other guard turned. “This is the boy from prison, the ghost?”  
  
“Yeah, this is Nico. Uh, Nico... Meet Hazel.”  
  
Hazel took off her helmet, and smiled at Nico. But there was something behind it that made him uneasy, and that didn’t happen often.  
  
“Are your other friends around?”  
  
Frank tensed, and Nico felt it along with him. It was obvious for whom she meant, and Nico suspected if Leo were to ever meet this woman, it wouldn’t end well for Leo.  
  
“No, it’s just me. I’ve been all by myself for…awhile.” There were no rules for this encounter; there shouldn’t even be a second camp. Nico had no idea what to or not to say, but something told him for the time being to wait until he knew more.  
  
“I had no idea you were a demigod, Frank.” Nico shook his head, it was unbelievable. A year ago, Nico played with the possibility, but when Frank and Jason had vanished, so had the topic from Nico’s mind. They were too busy with the war, with Luke Castellan and the Titans to think much about a couple things that were out of place.   
  
“Yeah, uh. I am, though I guess it makes sense of a lot of things regarding…you.” Frank said awkwardly, removing his own helmet. Frank seemed a lot more uneasy than he was in prison, though Nico supposed his presence likely reminded Frank of Leo. Did Frank feel guilt, or fear?  
  
“Who is your Godly parent?” Nico asked, noticing it was Frank holding the longbow that almost took a chunk out of his cranium. Apollo seemed possible, but Nico hadn’t met many kids in the Apollo cabin that looked much like Frank, and it would be highly odd to consider the chance that Frank might be Will’s half brother.  
  
“Mars.” Frank said, looking a little bit miffed. Mars, Nico wondered at the choice in phrasing, that was Ares wasn’t it?  
  
“Pluto for me,” Hazel smiled, and Nico froze mid thought. Pluto…was…  
  
“…I think...you might be my sister.” Nico blinked, and spoke slowly as though he himself was having a hard time processing it. “My father…is also Pluto.”  
  
“What?” Hazel looked puzzled. “But, I thought no kids were born after-“  
  
“Same here. I was born in the 30’s. Time trap sort of thing. You?” Hazel knew about the pact, which was interesting. How much did this camp know?  
  
“Oh, I died. Father brought me back.” Hazel smiled, and Nico’s face faltered. That brought up unpleasant memories.  
  
“I have another sister, Bianca…She uh, passed away last year.” During the fight with Castellan. Others might have forgiven him, given him a second chance, but Nico never could. He understood Kronus had corrupted his mind, but that didn’t bring Bianca back.  
  
“I’m sorry, maybe Father can-“ Nico shook his head. He had asked Bianca the same thing, in the underworld. She chose rebirth.  
  
“Can you show me more of your camp? I had no idea anyone else like us was out there.” Nico asked, changing the unfortunate subject.  
  
Frank continued to look a bit pale for the entire time Nico was there, and was not helped anytime it was brought up that Nico and Hazel were technically half-siblings.    
  
New Rome was spectacular and Camp Jupiter formidable. Nico enjoyed Camp Half Blood enough, but as he grew older it began to become evident it was most evidently a summer camp. It created a sense of normalcy while you were there, taught you how to fight and live in the real world, but it offered very little for those whose only world could ever be a demigod world. New Rome offered something that Camp Half Blood didn’t, the possibility of a normal life…but a demigod one.  There were kids here who had only ever known this world, this camp. There were homes, neighborhoods, businesses, actual schools.   
There was something, however, that was a bit off. Something that Nico had always liked about the camp back home, organized chaos. New Rome, however, was just organized. There was very little chaos to speak of.  
  
There was also the _Rome_ part. That seemed odd.  
  
Nico wasn’t there long before they ran into Jason, who looked just as surprised. Happily surprised of course, as he joined in quickly with the tour, introducing him to the various temples and _cohorts_. Cohorts was another alien subject to Nico.   
  
Something was prickling at the back of his mind, but he didn’t want to yet admit it to himself.  
  
After a few hours, Jason invited them to dinner at the praetors lodging. Nico had also noticed Jason had made sure not to mention Leo at all during their tour. How much sway did Hazel have? Was it simply because of Hades reputation; or…as she had said, Pluto’s reputation?  
  
“Jason, I forgot to ask, who is your Godly parent?” Nico said, testing his theory.  
  
“Jupiter, I suppose that makes us cousins.” Jason smiled easily, as though he didn’t just admit to being the son of the King of Gods.  
  
Nico sighed, realizing only his own father had actually managed to hold true to his promise. Of course Nico knew about Thalia, but Percy being Poseidon’s son came as a bit of a nasty shock. And now Jason.  
  
“If only there was a child of Neptune here, we’d have all three.” Hazel commented lightly, and Nico didn’t bother to say been there done that. Everyone steered a clear path when Thalia, Nico and Percy were all in camp at the same time.   
  
“I’m curious, Nico.” Hazel said one night, leaning forward slightly so she didn’t have to talk as loudly. “What happened to the others?”  
  
“I’m curious too, I’ll admit.” Jason said, having been quite happy to see Nico again, and likely similarly hoped his other friends were also in tow.  Frank had said very little to Nico, but could tell he was just as interested.  
  
"We looked for them, for quite awhile, but all trails went cold. Even our search dogs found nothing. At first we thought they had been taken in by the police, but..."  
  
“They,” Nico paused. These people were not like him, he had surmised that enough so far. Was it dangerous, needed even, to bring them up just yet?  
  
“Fled. It was dangerous. I helped them get away, I didn’t know you were looking for each other.”  
  
"Ran away, of course he did..." Frank muttered. Apparently even after a year, Frank was nursing the upset of their separation just as much as Leo still was.  
  
“And were they human?” Hazel prompted further, a look in her eyes that reminded Nico a bit of both his father and his step mother.  She was looking for something. Nico wasn’t sure it would be good to give it to her.   
He knew all too well that children of Hades, or Pluto, were all too likely to hold a grudge.  
  
“As far as I know.”   
  
“However,” Nico said slowly. “I need to talk to your leader, Reyna, regarding something else.”  
  
“What?”  
  
“About Luke Castellan’s fate.” Nico swallowed hard. “And about the camp _I_ came from.”  
  
Reyna Ramirez-Arellano was just as formidable as the camp itself, and Nico respected that. She was a bit like Annabeth, but there was something else there too. Something in her eyes that seemed familiar.  
  
“I believe,” Nico started, when faced with her along with other higher ranking camp goers. “That the reason our camps do not know of the others existence…is because we are not of the same pantheon.”  
  
“What do you mean?” Reyna asked, calm and collected, hands folded on her lap.  
  
“…The camp I come from is Greek. And, you are not.”  
  
“No,” Reyna agreed, eyes sharp. “We are not.”  
  
When Nico later retold this to the individuals at Camp Half Blood he pointedly left out any details relating to Frank, Hazel, or Jason.   
But the far more import die had been cast. Both camps were now aware of the existence of the other.  
  
Elsewhere, unbeknownst to all, was another die being cast. Gaea was waking up, and death itself was about to be put to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I still don't know how I feel about this chapter.   
> I will say, some things are hard to escape plot wise, but I have no wishes or need to just rehash everything in HoO. This is obviously not going to span books or anything like that. I'm here to write the stupidbaby drama first and foremost.
> 
> Story time! Something about writing anything with Frank in it always makes me want to go back to British Columbia. When I was just barely 19, I took the ferry from US to Victoria island and spent a few days in a bed and breakfast called the English Inn, and due to a booking error, I got to spend part of it in one of their biggest rooms. The trade off being, since it was a huge old house, the staircase was absolutely tiny and appeared to be hidden in a broom closet, but nope. staircase. 
> 
>  
> 
> ...people love random stories instead of previews and anything relating to the actual story right?  
> (grecoroman will probably be the next update and then just golden then we'll see because i'm terrible with schedules)
> 
> I have instant messaging on, so say hey to me on tumblr at historicallyinnacurate.tumblr.com


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is chapter 12 of officially 13 chapters. Caged is wrapping up folks, for better or for worse, because I can't decide on how I feel about this. The next chapter is epilogue.  
> There are two places I could end this chapter, and I decided on this one.

  
  
  
“What do we do?” Octavian yelled. “Greeks? And we let one into our fold? Why haven’t we kicked out the new recruits yet? ”  
  
“Are we expected to keep the wars of our forefathers going?” Jason shot back. “They could be our allies.”  
  
“Or our enemies,” Reyna sighed. “We don’t make any rash decisions until we know of their plans. We’ll arrange a meeting. That is the most we can do for the time being. Nico di Angelo can be our go between.”  
  
“Will that put him in danger?” Hazel asked, crossing her arms and readjusting her spathe.  
  
“Who let her talk?” Octavian gaped. “Why are they even allowed in here?  _They_ let an outsider in.”  
  
“With all due respect, which is very little, I could snap you like a twig.” Frank glared. “Don’t be mean to Hazel. That man is her brother, or is _your_ family and title the only thing you care about?”  
  
Octavian began to turn red and squawk, but no one was listening.  
  
“I’m more concerned with Luke Castellan,” Jason mused. “Nico says he’s no longer…what’s the word-”  
  
“A jackass.”  
  
“Right, a threat, thanks. But, can we trust that? If Nico hasn’t seen him in some time either, then how do we know he isn’t back in another prison recruiting again?”  
  
“What about those Hunters? A goddess has a band of demigods, and demi _titans_ , as some sort of rogue force, and we’re not concerned?” Octavian pitched in.  
  
“Octavian is right…for once.” Reyna mused. “I can contact someone about that, however, someone more likely to know something about that situation. But, again, for the time being, we plan a meeting. That is all we can do. It is the most responsible thing to do.”  
  
\---  
“I say we fly all the chariots in, bringing pizza and hotdogs.” Percy said with mock seriousness. “Sure, we’ve been at war with them in the past, but they lacked pizza and hotdogs.”  
  
“Pretty sure pizza has existed for a while.”  
  
“Why are you not more worried about an army far larger than our own, from a group we were once at war with?” Annabeth sighed, raking a hand through her hair. Percy shrugged.  
  
“I get over things pretty fast. Why do you think I’m the go between with Lu- no one.” Percy snapped his mouth shut, seeing Annabeth’s expression  
  
“Okay, guys, lets focus?” Piper said, and all eyes turned to her. “This might not be a bad thing, but let’s respect diplomacy.”  
  
“In my day, diplomacy didn’t involve so many women.” Calypso mused. “I try to get a say, and end up trapped for a few thousand years. It’s a welcome change.”  
  
“Yeah, we get it, you were on an island. _Whatever_. Onto the main thing: _War_.” Clarisse rolled her eyes, though looked very excited at the idea of battle, meanwhile the air around Calypso started to smell of ozone like before a storm.  
  
Leo snorted, and then immediately held up his hands in defeat when the look of death landed upon him.  
  
“We are not going to war.” Annabeth yelped. “We’d lose! Do you not get that?”  
  
“You just don’t have any faith. You’re all brains, but brains doesn’t matter in a battle.”  
  
“Yes it does! It’s the main determining factor!”  
  
“We need to meet them, right?” Leo cut in. “Us, Cabin 9, can get you wherever we need to go, in a more reliable transport than chariots. If we need a diplomat, we have Piper. We can avoid war by making them think they don’t want to fight, if it comes down to it.”  
  
Annabeth relaxed some as others around them agreed.  
  
-  
  
Negotiations failed.  
  
-  
  
Leo had plans, big ones, but they’d likely take a year to complete which he didn’t have. In the meantime, Leo went to creating ships that could take their crew safely to the meeting spot. They didn’t have to be fancy, which went against multiple of his aesthetics, but they did have to be safe which meant both a good defense and offense.  
Who knew what guns the Romans had.  
  
The plan was to meet in the middle of the US, which was roughly Kansas. They would meet, talk, negotiate, and hopefully create a better working relationship than the last time Greeks and Romans had met.  
Chiron had finally caved on that whole story.  
  
“You can do it?” Annabeth asked, hushed tone after a lengthy meeting; one of many lately. While Leo was by no means the cabin head, nor did he want to be, but Annabeth knew that Leo’s skills surpassed his siblings.  
  
“Of course,” Leo nodded. “Don’t worry about it. I always have a plan. I have it all under control.”  
  
It would turn out that would be a bad thing.  
  
A month later, Leo was yawning, and Piper was still asleep on the bunk next to the co-pilots chair. Piper couldn’t actually fly the ship - Leo had made the controls complicated enough that even Annabeth had trouble with it, but Leo liked Piper nearby.  
A knock came, and Calypso poked her head into the cabin.  
  
“They want to know how far we are to landing.” She said, and Leo pulled up a panel and swiped his hand across the touch screen before typing in a lengthy set of commands.  
  
“Around 7 klicks,” Leo turned back to her, while moving to a different panel. “In fact, we should be getting visual soon.”  
  
Calypso frowned, and Leo paused and bit his lip.  
  
“…What?”  
  
“What is that? A click?” She asked, and Leo nearly groaned.  
  
“Sunshine, you kill me, really you do. Klick, short for kilometers. 4.3 miles, roughly.”  
  
Calypso stayed silent, and Leo began to tap his foot. You never knew with Calypso.  
  
“I don’t know what those are either.”  
  
“Yes, island, I remember. Okay, they’re ways humans measure distance or space.”  
  
“Like Daktylos?” Calypso asked, with dawning realization and Leo clapped his hands together.  
  
“Yes! Exactly. You’re on Ancient Greek-y time, I keep forgetting, I keep thinking it’s the Titan as your dad thing.”  
  
“Okay, right, right. So, using Daktylos…We’re about-“ An image fuzzed to life on the panel Leo was holding, and cut off all thought to Leo’s poor little brain  
  
“Fuck…” Leo muttered, and Calypso look puzzled and leaned in.  
  
“That is a lot. I should go report that” She said, and Leo nodded slowly.  
  
“Yes…yes, you should.”  
  
 It looked like something out of a movie. Banners, flags were waving. At least triple, If not four to five times the amount of troops as the Greeks, had been lined up perfectly in order. Camp Half Blood kids couldn’t even line up perfectly for lunch.  
If the Romans were looking to show their strength, they were succeeding.  
  
“We’d lose,” Piper whispered, and Leo hadn’t even heard her get up. She echoed what he was thinking.  
  
In an all-out fight between the two, the victor to-be was obvious.  
  
\---  
  
“That’s worrisome, yet incredibly awesome,” Jason muttered, looking up into the sky to see three large vessels flying towards them.  
  
They were a far cry from standard sea-going sail ships, or even blimps. They were thin, sleek, like common Greek vessels were, but the difference was the oars on these ships moved it through the sky. Sharp looking sails were menacing, and appeared to be solar sails rather than traditional sails. The whole ship itself was metallic, bronze in color, which set it apart from planes or boats.  
  
“They can’t carry very many people safely inside one of those; I’d estimate their numbers to be barely 50.” Reyna quipped, looking entirely unconcerned at the matter. “Our strength outweighs their own, easily.”  
  
“They do have the high ground, though.” Jason hummed, flipping his coin as few times.  
  
“That’s a horrible joke,” Frank sighed. “You can fly, they don’t have that much of an advantage.”  
  
“If they bombed us from there, though, we could be in trouble- or at the very least sustain serious losses.” Hazel frowned, watching the sky. “They are very cool, though. I don’t even like boats.”  
  
“We’ll lay down our lives for the sake of the empire,” Octavian sneered. “Are you not willing and committed to our cause?”  
  
“There won’t be an empire if all our soldiers are killed.” Hazel shot back, and Frank smirked behind her at Octavian.  
  
“No one is going to be killed,” Reyna spoke, barely raising her voice, yet somehow drowning out everything around her. “No one shall die, until they die. We will not rush into war. If they make the first move, we will respond with all the might of our armies. Until then, hold your positions.”  
  
The ships came to a silent stop above them, and Reyna gave the motion for Octavian to shoot a flare into the sky.  
  
\---  
  
“This is it.” Annabeth took a deep breath to calm her. She kept telling herself that something wasn’t wrong. She had accounted for all she could. Nothing was wrong.  
 “Is everyone where they need to be?”  
  
Piper, Rachel, Nico, and Will Solace would make up part of the contact team. Percy, Thalia, and other hunters, along with a few Hecate and Ares children would make up the guard. Leo and other Hephaestus children would be managing the ships, while Clarisse would be covering security on the main vessel where warriors were waiting to back up those on the ground in the case of any sort of battle.  
  
“Alright, then… Let’s …negotiate.”  
  
-  
  
Leo watched through the cameras as his friends left the ships. He had hugged Piper, patted Percy on the back, shot finger guns at Nico- but something felt off, something in his head, like sometimes he moved without realizing he was doing so.  
He was worried.  
  
He was right to be.  
  
An hour later Leo awoke in a prison cell. One he had made.  
  
“Wh-why? Why am I-?” Leo said, sitting up and looking around the cabin, what sort of metaphorical bullshit was this?  
Locked in a cell of his own making? Really? Was the universe actually conspiring against him?  
  
“Leo.” A voice called, and he turned to see Piper standing in front of the cell. Percy and Calypso stood behind her.  
  
“Piper? You’re okay. What the fuck happened?” Leo stood up, and walked over to the cell bars. “Why am I in here? What happened during the negotiations? Did I get a concussion, or have a stroke or something?”  
  
“There were no negotiations, Leo.” Piper shook her head sadly. It was then that Leo realized that there was a feint smell of gun powder in the room, and that Piper had seen better days. Her hair was choppy and messy as usual, but it looked like there was a coating of ash on it, and dirt on her face. Percy and Calypso looked the same.  
  
“What do you mean?” Leo asked, horror beginning to seep in. “What happened?”  
  
“ _You_ happened.” Calypso cut in, with a dark look on her face. They had just started getting along better too.  
  
“You fired on them.” Piper said, just barely above a whisper. Leo took a step back, shocked, shaking his head.  
  
“ _No_. No way. I wouldn’t! I didn’t! I think I would remember literally starting a war!”  
  
“I was there! There were multiple witnesses!” Calypso yelled. “Our people weren’t even all off the ships! You started to fire upon them, the Romans! We’re _are_ at war, and it’s your fault.”  
  
Leo’s hands began to shake, his body felt cold, he never felt cold.  
  
“Piper, Percy…tell me that isn’t true. This…can’t be true. _Please_. I…I don’t remember anything.”  
  
“It’s true, but it wasn’t your fault.” Piper sighed, and moved forward towards the cell, reaching in and grabbing Leo’s hand. “You were possessed.”  
  
“I was _what_?” Leo snapped his head up. “Possessed? Like, vomiting green pea soup, possessed?”  
  
“You weren’t the only one,” Percy sighed. “I was too. Piper figured it out, Annabeth stopped you…she’s flying the ship now. The other two should be safe, Nyssa and Jake took over, but…this one took a lot of hits. I don’t think we’ll be in the air much longer without you.”  
  
“That doesn’t change anything! Even if we escape for now, we won’t be able to escape forever! The camp will be razed! None of you have ever been in a real war. You’re weak, you let yourselves get possessed, and now everyone will suffer!” Calypso snapped, hands balling up. “I…finally found a place…and you’ve ruined it. You’ve killed them all.”  
  
“Calypso, calm down.” Piper said, in that special tone of hers. “It could have been anyone. No one is to blame here. I know you’re scared, but no one could have expected this. We need to work together, because if this breaks us apart, that’s exactly what they wanted. I’ve gotten rid of the spirits. Now, we focus on getting the ship up and running. None of us can predict the future, and I don’t remember Rachel mentioning anything like this. We’ll take care of it as it happens.”  
  
Calypso crossed her arms, and nodded after a moment. Leo was fairly certain he saw tears dripping down her face in the dim light. He couldn’t blame her, because he agreed with her. Piper might have been right, but it didn’t change anything.  
  
“Leo, I know what you’re thinking. Stop,” Piper sighed, as she unlocked the prison cell doors.  
  
“Why am I in here, and Percy wasn’t?” Leo asked meekly after a moment, walking out of the cell.  
  
“Didn’t know I was possessed,” Percy shrugged. “Piper started talking, and I blacked out too. I just woke up a few minutes ago, but I was awake for the fight.”  
  
“Great,” Leo muttered. “What happened exactly?”  
  
“We were just getting down the steps, we could see troops off in the distance. These metallic dogs ran up to us, but that’s about it. We didn’t talk to anyone. The next thing I know, there are blasts going off. At first, I think we all thought it was coming from them…but,” Percy trailed off, and put his hands in his pockets.  
  
“It was me.” Leo finished for him. “How did everyone else fair? Were…there weren’t any casualties were there?”  
  
“Not on our side,” Calypso said, breaking her silence. “Around 15 injured. I can’t speak for the Romans. I wouldn’t be shocked if there were casualties on their side.”  
  
Leo swallowed hard. Had he really killed someone? Innocent people? Why would anything want this? “Why, I don’t understand…Piper, please tell me you found out more than I was possessed.”  
  
Piper exhaled, “it was a plot. Something else is happening, Leo. I don’t know all the details, but I think it might be worse than Kronus. I don’t want to scare anyone, but…I’m more worried about that than the Romans.”  
  
“Great.” Leo nodded. “Just great…. So, I’m guessing, we get pitted against each other, wipe each other out…..and something big bad shows up and ruins everything?”  
  
“It’s almost cliché,” Percy laughed, but it didn’t reach his eyes. Percy’s experience during the war with Luke and Kronus hadn’t been pleasant, though Leo hadn’t spoken to him much about it, it was obvious enough. Percy had to be scared, the idea of another battle, of more friends dying around him.  
  
The life they had all found, the freedom they found, was all about to be ripped away. And it was Leo’s fault.  
  
I sabotaged myself, Leo thought as he walked towards the engine room. Percy was right, it was almost cliché.  
  
\---  
  
“I told you this would happen!” Octavian was making noise again, but he rarely stopped. Hazel was pinching the bridge of her nose, maybe out of annoyance but it was possible it was broken too.  
  
“They fired on us! They hit us before we could hit them because you’re a weak leader, Reyna!”  
  
“That’s enough!” Jason stepped up, standing between the other Praetor and the centurion. “You’ve made your displeasure obvious.”  
  
Octavian’s expression wrinkled unpleasantly. “My _displeasure_? Oh, Grace, you’ve not even seen the _half_ of it. We’re leaving. Michael! Come on.”  
  
As the blond walked out of the tent, Michael Kahale paused, and glanced at the two Praetors and the other soldiers.  
  
“Some of them were surprised- the Greeks.” It was all Michael said, before exiting and following behind Octavian. He had been closer to the Grecian party that was making their way off of the ships.  
  
“He’s not wrong you know,” Reyna said after a moment of silence. “This is my fault.”  
  
“No,” Frank shook his head. “It’s their fault. We offered peace and they rejected it. They fired on us. No one saw that coming.”  
  
“A leader has to always prepare for the worst,” Jason sighed, “…is what Reyna is thinking right now.”  
  
“You’re also not wrong,” Reyna gave very nearly a smile before sighing. “I judged their character very wrongly.”  
  
“No, I think Michael was right.” Hazel said. “About them being surprised. I don’t think they expected it either.”  
  
“Are you sure your feelings for your so called brother aren’t clouding your judgement, Levesque?” Reyna asked, cocking an eyebrow. “Siblings can bring out complicated emotions.”  
  
“That isn’t it,” Hazel shook her head. “Why would they even bother getting off of their ships? If their soul intention was to attack us, why bother? It doesn’t make sense, strategically.”  
  
“Nico is part of it too,” Jason said. “We know him, Frank and I. He told us where their camp was. We know some of the people who are in charge. Annabeth, Chiron…Why would they give us that information, when they have the advantage? “  
  
Frank frowned, “so, we think someone inside their group may have attacked us?”  
  
“Against the wishes of the rest of the Greeks?” Reyna added, looking intrigued.  
  
“It makes sense, doesn’t it? Given everything?” Hazel looked to Jason, who nodded.  
  
“That would mean…we need to be looking for someone who would profit from both groups fighting.” Frank reasoned. “But we can’t do that without getting close to them. I’d imagine, given they fled instead of continuing to fight, that they fear repercussions.”  
  
“We go to war,” Reyna said finally. “But, and this doesn’t leave this tent, we’re doing it to snake out their rat. The rest of the cohorts will want vengeance for those who died. Unless we can prove to them without a doubt that there is a common enemy, war will be real.”  
  
-  
  
“What do you think?” Hazel asked, lying beside Frank in their tent.  
  
“About what? The Greeks?” Frank rolled over, but didn’t disrupt her head atop his arm.  
  
“Who could be responsible for sabotaging them? Who would want to pit us against one another like that?” Hazel frowned, staring at the ceiling. “I think Nico was lying.”  
  
“I mean, probably. Or, at least didn’t tell the entire truth. Wouldn’t shock me much.” Frank shrugged a single shoulder. “What do you think he’s lying about?”  
  
Hazel glanced at Frank, but didn’t say anything, which could only mean one thing.  
  
“You think Leo Valdez is behind this?” Frank asked flatly. It wasn’t like they never spoke of him, but it wasn’t a topic Frank was happy to have brought up. “Why?”  
  
“He knows Nico, and knows us. We’ve never figured out his motives.”  
  
“Hazel, you’re thinking he had motives in the first place, which we don’t know. Which I don’t think he had.” Frank sighed, and started to sit up and Hazel followed. “We’ve talked about this.”  
  
“Why does he look like Sammy then?” Hazel pulled a loose coil in her hair, obviously frustrated. She seemed more conflicted than angry. “I just… I don’t understand why he looks like Sammy. It doesn’t make sense. Everything else- monsters, demigods, whatever. But, Leo doesn’t make sense to me. His existence doesn’t make sense.”  
  
“Coincidence?” Frank suggested. “Maybe they’re related…as…horribly weird as that would be. Your picture wasn’t entirely clear, and you didn’t meet Leo so-“  
  
“I think I did,” Hazel said quietly, cutting in. “I think I saw him in a dream. After the fire, while you were in prison. I saw a boy, or a man rather…I thought he was Sammy, at first but…there was something about him. He was older, his ears were pointed…and he had this look on his face. He looked like Sammy, but at the same time…I’d never mistake the two.”  
  
Frank didn’t know what to say, even though they had talked and were quite open about everything. Hazel had forgiven him, to an extent, but their relationship took a bit of a break for a while.  
  
“Oh, maybe I am just overthinking things…I guess it still…maybe I’m just…jealous?  Maybe that is what it comes down to…” Hazel flopped back down and released a hard exhale. Frank frowned, not liking to see her upset.  
  
“Hazel, I trust your judgement. I don’t think you’re just…jealous. I agree, I think Nico was lying, I think Leo was probably not human…I think he was a demigod, but since he ran off by himself…I’ll…we’ll never know.” Frank ran a hand through his short hair. “Sometimes I wish you were angrier at me.”  
  
“I wish it was that easy,” Hazel laughed, softly. “But, I know you too well…The way you spoke about him. I guess if it was just sex, it would be easier to be angry…”  
  
Frank raised an eyebrow. “It was just sex. It was a horrible lack of judgement-“  
  
“No, you like him. Liked him. I can tell.” Hazel rolled over and looked him in the eyes. “It’s different, but when we’ve spoken about him, it’s like when you talk about me. You _actually_ liked him, and not just a fleeting crush.  You’re still upset, aren’t you? That we didn’t find him?”  
  
“I-,”Frank paused, before looking down at his hands. “Yeah. Yeah, you’re probably right. But, that doesn’t mean I don’t love you, you know that right? More than anything? More than myself.”  
  
“I’m aware people can have feelings for more than one person at a time, Frank, I’ve been there. Who knows, if Sammy was still around, our age, I might have done the same thing.” Hazel paused, and sent a mocking glare at Frank.  
  
“Though if he looks like Leo, maybe you wouldn’t have a problem with that.” Frank held up his hands, laughing at the absurdity.  
  
“Maybe you wouldn’t have a problem with Leo around then either.” Frank countered, before freezing. “Oh, I didn’t mean that. I was not implying-…I...shouldn’t ever talk, I just…shouldn’t speak.”  
  
“Go to sleep, Frank. It’s been a long day.” Hazel shook her head, but didn’t look angry.  
  
Before they could fall into a deep slumber, both were awoken by someone yelling for them.  Up, and out of bed in seconds, brandishing weapons, the couple blearily looked around the tent to find Dakota looking more frazzled than usual, holding a latern.  
  
“Wha-“ Frank started, but Dakota cut him off.  
  
“It’s…You guys have to come with me right now.”  
  
“In the middle of the night?” Hazel blinked before her features darkened. “Are we under attack?”  
  
“No, it’s…it’s the corpses.” Dakota looked white as a sheet, and he was already pale to begin with.  
  
“What about them?” Frank asked, horrified.  
“They’re… uh, they…um…they’re not corpses anymore.”  
  
Frank and Hazel exchanged a look, before rushing out of the tent and towards the healing tent.  
What they saw when they got there, had them both frozen in place.  
  
The five people who had died in the attacks by the Greeks were sitting up on cots, surrounded by healers and by the centurions.  
  
Gwen, who had been impaled by debris, waved to them from her cot.  
  
“What on earth?” Hazel breathed out, looking towards Reyna who had a stoic look about her, but was obviously concerned.  
  
“Why aren’t you dead?” Frank gaped at the centurion.  
  
“Wow, thanks Frank. Glad I brought you into the Fifth.” Gwen huffed, before hugging Hazel and Dakota. “All I can tell you is what I told Reyna and Jason and everyone else, I have no idea. None of us do.”  
  
“No offense Gwen, but this can’t be a good sign.” Frank frowned, and the girl shrugged a shoulder.  
  
“I’m not complaining, but I can see how you’d think that.”  
  
“It isn’t just them,” Reyna announced, breaking her silence. “I’ve had word from camp. Death has been, in a matter of speaking, been put on hold. No one is staying dead. Not our people…and likely, our enemies.”  
  
“We can use that to our advantage!” Octavian took a step forward, a glint in his eyes. “If we can’t die, our soldiers will never fall.”  
  
“Did you not hear the part where she said our enemies won’t stay dead either?” Jason side eyed the other blond. “Monsters, and I’m guessing the Greeks too, aren’t staying dead. Going to war right now would mean endless war. Forever.”  
  
“So?” Octavian honestly looked confused as to why that would be a negative.  
  
“Grace is right,” Reyna spoke over the First Cohort Centurion. “Going to war right now would be foolish, however at the same time we can’t ignore the possibility that the Greeks might have information or might be the cause. Because of this, I will be sending a small expert team to go after their main ship.”  
  
Octavian snorted, and crossed his arms. “Let me guess, you’re cherry picking exactly who you want?”  
  
“Yes,” Reyna tilted her head. “I can do that, as I was elected to this position. Octavian, you will be on one team, with Michael and myself.”  
  
Octavian looked surprised, but shut his mouth.  
  
“Jason, Frank, and Hazel will make up another. One will be going by ground, one by air, and I’m sure you can figure out which is which. We’ll leave in an hour.”  
  
\--  
  
Leo had spoken to Annabeth, and got things sorted out. As well as he could, given the time limitations.  
  
He made a few tweaks to the controls, allowing for easier access by the daughter of Athena. Originally, Leo thought having the ships be tuned to himself would be a good idea- turned out, not so much. He made contact with the other ships, assuring that Jake and Nyssa had gotten the vessels to safety and that the crew was safe.  
Not so much great news could be said for their own ship. It was spluttering along, smoking all the way, ripped and ravaged sails making sure they received very little energy to boot.  
They were right, the ship wouldn’t be in the air much longer. They were at least 50 miles or more behind the other two, barely out of range of the Romans. Of course Leo could fix it, with time and a bit of luck, but that wouldn’t address the main issue.  
There was, however, another possibility.  But, for it to work, he needed a bit of help.  
  
“Calypso,” Leo knocked on her cabin door. “Can I talk to you?”  
  
The door slid open after a moment, and Calypso narrowed her eyes up at him. “What do you want?”  
  
“I think I just said I wanted to talk?” Leo offered a crooked smile, and had to shove his foot in the door to keep her from slamming it closed on him, but really only ended up with a bruised foot. “Okay, _okay_ , jeez. I get it. Sorry. Look, I need to talk to you about fending off the Romans.”  
  
Calypso pushed the door open once again, and looked Leo over once more, doubt all over her face.  
  
“How?”  
  
“Can we go in your room?” Leo asked, and received a blank stare in return. “Okay, nevermind, can we go down to the engine room?”  
  
“Fine,” Calypso huffed after a minute of thought. They walked in silence, there weren’t a lot of people left on their ship, most had fled to the other two far less broken vessels.  
  
Once they got to the engine room, Leo dropped pretenses.  
  
“I have an idea, but Piper would stop me. Percy might understand, but he’d still probably try to stop me. Annabeth, well, it isn’t something I can tell her.”  
  
“Why me?” Calypso asked curiously. “We’re not friends.”  
“Well, to be perfectly honest, it’s because you have magic.” Leo said. “And, because you’d understand what I’m about to do better than anyone else here. Piper once said I should talk to you more, because we’re similar- she wasn’t wrong.”  
  
Calypso didn’t say anything, but she was curious, that much was obvious.  
  
“I’m going to go turn myself over to the Romans.” Leo said with a deep breath. “I’ll tell them it was me, and me alone.”  
  
“That’s suicide.” Calypso said flatly, and Leo shrugged a shoulder.  
  
“Yeah, pretty much. But…it’s worth it, isn’t it? Saving the camp?”  
  
Calypso cast her eyes downward to the floor. “You’ve never really been at war, have you? Any of you?”  
  
“Kronus.” Leo said simply, and she shook her head.  
  
“Not against a monster, or Titan, or God. Against people. The era which I grew up, it was violent and bloody. Towns, villages, wiped out. Burned to the ground. Men, women, children, sold into slavery if they weren’t simply butchered. There is nothing worse than what mortals do to themselves.” Calypso finished, her voice quiet and her gaze seemed to be unfocused.  
  
“I will help you do this.” She finally said. “I never want to see such a thing again.”  
  
Leo nodded, and reached for her hand.  ”I’ll die a million times over to make sure none of those kids are hurt- especially not when it’s my fault in the first place.”  
  
“How do we do this?” Calypso asked, looking up, her face was full of resolution.  
  
“I go out on Festus, I’ll fly back, _hopefully_ I won’t get blown out of the sky. But I’ll need you to hide me. No one on the ship can see me, they’ll just tell Annabeth and Piper. And _they’ll_ tell Nico. And Nico is a dick.”  
  
“Alright, I think I can.” Calypso mumbled. “I haven’t used this type of magic in a long time, but it’s like-“  
  
“Riding a bicycle?”  
  
“No it’s like…I don’t think the word translates easily. You’d have to have been there.”  
  
Leo set off that night, hammer through a belt loop, and wearing not much armor apart from the helmet on his head. It would identify him as Greek visually, and make a nice target, but Leo was ignoring that aspect. It wasn’t comfortable, it pushed down on his ears, made it hard to turn his head, and the nose piece was extremely distracting.  
  
He hated not saying goodbye in person, but Leo also hated goodbyes-so he left a message with Calypso to give to his friends and crewmates.  
  
Festus puffed out a bit of smoke, and Leo leaned down to pat his head. “You’ll be fine, buddy. Nyssa and Jake will take care of you.” Festus huffed, and Leo laughed. “Okay, just Nyssa and Piper then.”  
  
And then a bolt of lightning nearly shot Leo out of the air. Cursing, Leo swerved and shouted instructions to Festus. There didn’t seem to be a storm starting but-  
Then Leo spotted the figures in the sky; one appeared to be flying without any support, crackling with energy around them. The lightning had come from them. But more worrisome, was, next to the human figure, was a dragon. Not a Festus dragon, a real life honest to god, dragon. It roared, and Festus returned his own.  
  
“Well, that is new. Whatever. Rock, paper, scissors, metal beats organic life forms.” Leo crouched, as Festus sped up towards the other dragon, body heating as he prepared to breathe out a massive stream of flames.  
  
The figure bathed in lightning seemed to appraise the situation for a moment, before speeding past Leo. Cursing, Leo tried to send his own fireball after the flying figure. He couldn’t let them get to the ships. But, before Leo could do much about it, the other dragon was getting a bit too close for comfort. Festus was agitated, and they entered into a dance of swirls and dives and fire.  
It took a lot of energy to just stay on Festus’ back, let alone trying not to vomit.  
  
And then it happened, the dragon moved faster and smoother than Festus, and snapped its head around to bite down onto Festus’ neck. Leo jumped to action, and tried to swing his hammer down onto its snout—but it was too late.  
Metal began to crush beneath the teeth, a horrid sound, before it all went. Leo watched frozen in shock, as the dragon ripped Festus’ head from his body.  
And then Leo was falling, as Festus’ wings stopped beating. Leo pushed himself from the body, choking back a sob, as he spun mid-air to look at the ground approaching beneath him. He shoved out his hands, and blasted out as much fire from his palms as possible, to slow his dissent. It worked, enough, but slamming through a canopy of trees wasn’t pleasant.  
  
Leo pushed up onto shaking arms, from the ground, everything hurt. Festus was gone. Leo would likely be killed before he had the chance to convince the Romans to not attack Camp Half Blood—in fact, someone was probably reaching the ship already. Leo had failed. And his stupid helmet was still intact.  
  
There was a noise in the dark woods around him, and for a moment Leo feared the dragon had come back, but then a figure on horseback appeared in the clearing.  
  
“Why did you attack us?” a female voice said, unmounting. “We wanted peace.”  
  
Leo coughed out a laugh, maybe he still had a chance.  
  
“So did they,” Leo said in his best fake sneer. “They’re idiots. There can never be peace between us. I needed to make them see.”  
  
“You?” She sounded surprised. “You did this?”  
  
“I did, and I was trying to finish the job before…well, doesn’t matter. We’re at war now.”  
  
“You started a war on purpose? Your friends will die. Some of my friends _did_ die!” She yelled, and Leo felt sick. He had gotten people killed. Why did this keep happening?  
  
“Death…is inevitable,” his laugh sounded fake to his own ears, but maybe not hers.  “You can’t stop it.”  
  
“I am a daughter of Pluto,” she said confidentially, before pointing a sword at him. “But, you’re right. Death is inevitable, for some sooner than others.”  
  
Pluto? That meant she was…Nico’s sister?  
  
“I know your brother, I don’t like him either.” Leo stood taller, but they were similar heights. Then, he lift his hammer.  
“So, you wanna do this?” Leo paused, and threw out another insult. “Bitch,” he said as an afterthought. In Camp Half Blood, it’d get him skewered, he doubted the Romans were any different.  
  
“Oh, I was counting on it.” She made the first jab, but Leo blocked. They went in circles for a while, but it was obvious Leo wouldn’t be able to keep up. She was obviously a trained fighter, trained with her weapon, and while Leo had gotten some from Camp Half Blood, it was no where near her level. His fire was chaotic at best and not something he wanted to use in close quarter combat against someone he didn’t want to kill, and he’d never received any formal training with an actual weapon. His usual excuse was, ‘what’s there to teach? Swish, slam, thank you ma’am.’ He was already amassing cuts and slashes on his arms and sides, even if he hadn’t gotten skewered yet.  
  
Then an arrow went past Leo’s ear, and imbedded itself in a tree.  
  
“Get away from my girlfriend,” a menacing voice spoke from the side. He sounded familiar, but then again, Leo’s ears were still ringing.  
  
“Your girlfriend is kicking my ass, man. Fuck off.” Leo hissed, and the woman snorted.  
  
“I’ve got this under control,” she said easily. “He’s the one who fired on us. We were right, it wasn’t their idea.”  
  
Leo paused, mildly impressed at least some of the Romans were intelligent.  
  
“Yeah, I did.“ Leo bolstered. “War must happen, all the children at Camp Half Blood are weak, they need to be toughened up.”  
  
“You’d let children die?” The man said, his voice was deep and dark, darker than the night around them. “You really are a monster.”  
  
“Maybe,” Leo grinned, and dropped his hammer, to light his arms on fire. The man took a step backwards, and the woman froze.  
  
“Oh, afraid of a little fire?” Leo let the flames rise, until they began to encapsulate his entire body. “You best grab some aloe vera, hun, because you're about to get burned."  
  
There wouldn’t be, because Leo found a sword through his stomach a moment later. In the light of the flames that were dying out, Leo could see her face. She had a fierce, but scared look, in golden eyes. She was beautiful.  
  
Leo took a step backwards, and pain radiated out of the wound. Blood, there was a lot of blood. He couldn’t stop the wound, he couldn’t burn it closed. This was it.  
  
“Once you come back, I’ll do that again.” She was more threatening than Nico. There was no doubt she was the daughter of Hades.  
  
“What…are you talking about?” Leo tried not to splutter blood, but his head was getting light fast. “I can’t believe I survived prison only to die in Missouri of all places…This is…not ideal.”  
  
“You know what we’re talking about! The dead don’t stay dead.” The man yelled. “What was your goal? Why are you doing this?”  
  
But, the woman had stopped moving entirely. “Did…you say prison?” She whispered, and the other man froze.  
  
“Are you one of Luke’s men?” He asked, harshly, and Leo laughed.  
  
“No…No, I’m not.” Leo shook his head, and leaned up against a tree trunk. How did they know about Luke? His head was spinning.  
  
“What’s your name?” the woman whispered softly, almost too soft. “Is it Leo Valdez?”  
  
Leo thought he misheard her, thought a lot of things, but decided on, “what’s it to you?”  
  
“I knew it,” she hissed. “I knew you were a monster. Frank, stand back.”  
  
Frank? Leo turned to look at the man, it was too dark, but he certainly had his size. Slowly, Leo reached up, ignoring the pain, and tugged off his helmet. Why hadn’t he taken it off earlier?  
  
The man sucked in a breath of air, “Valdez.”  
  
Leo wanted to say something clever, something witty as his last words, but they didn’t come. Leo slipped off into darkness, dying without so much as a quip.  
  
And then he woke up with a gasp, eyes opening, before slamming shut again. It was light out, lighter out anyway.  
Frank was Leo’s first thought, followed by Hazel. Then, that was followed by, how am I not dead? Which was followed by, ow, ow, my fucking stomach.  
  
“Welcome back to the land of the living,” Hazel said, crouching down in front of him. It seemed to be early morning, and it was easy to tell that this was the same woman from Frank’s photo from so long ago.  
  
“Fuck,” Leo hissed, grabbing onto his side, before a bottle was shoved in his mouth and liquid dripped down his throat. It burned, which was an odd sensation for the fireproof.  
“Holy fuck, what the fuck.”  
  
“You died,” Hazel said simply. “And you came back. I’m sure you knew that much.”  
  
“I really didn’t,” Leo hissed, but felt his stomach stitching itself back together. Gross.  
  
“Why else would you attack us, pit us against each other, and then set off by yourself. You knew you’d die.”  
  
“Yes, I did, and I thought I’d stay that way.” Leo shook, his body felt weird. “That was kind of the point.” He glanced around for Frank, who was loitering a few feet away, looking tense.  
  
“Then you’re stupid. Death has stopped.” Hazel said simply. Leo realized this must be part of the plan the spirits mentioned to Piper.  
  
“Fuck, well, this puts a wrench in my plans.” Leo mumbled.  
  
“What did you want? Just for war?” Leo snorted.  
  
“I can’t believe you’d do this, I actually trusted you.” Frank’s voice was soft, but it cut through the air.  
  
“Frank,” Leo started, shaking his head. “No, you didn’t.”  
  
“I trusted you didn’t want innocent people to die! I trusted you wouldn’t throw your friends and children under a bus! How many secrets are you keeping, after all this time?!”  
  
Leo paused, looking down at the bloodstained fabric of his shirt. “I’m a demigod, Frank. See, I told you I’d tell you.”  
  
Frank flinched, and hurt flashed across his face. “No, you’re a monster.”  
  
“Okay, let’s start over.” Leo waved his hand at Hazel, she was smart, Leo knew that already. “Last night was a lie. I came here trying to prevent war, not start it.”  
  
“Sure you did.” Hazel sounded unconvinced.  
  
“I fired on you. 100% true. I was the instigator of the attack. But I was possessed. So was Percy. Something is trying to force us into war, to distract us. I’m guessing the not dying thing is part of it. What’s a better distraction than endless war?”  
  
“Last night you were possessed?” Leo shook his head.  
  
“No, last night I was acting. I figured…I figured I could convince you it was my fault, and not theirs, and you’d spare the camp.” Leo glanced at Frank. “It was a suicide mission.”  
  
A photo was pushed into his face. It took Leo a moment to focus.  
  
“Why do you have an old timey picture of me?” Leo mumbled in confusion, looking up at Hazel.  
  
“This is Sammy Valdez. The photo is from the 1930’s. When I was alive, the first time. You’re not the only one here who has died. So, Leo, tell me why he looks like you.”  
  
Leo opened and closed his mouth a few times, looking between her and photo. “I literally just woke up from being dead and- wait, _Samuel_   Valdez?” Hazel nodded. “He’s my great grandfather. I think I met him as a baby, but I don’t remember him.”  
  
Hazel looked like she didn’t know what to say, looking back at the picture silently.  
  
“I know how to confirm that,” Hazel said finally. Frank jerked, and started to speak, but before he could, Hazel had grabbed Leo’s hands.  
  
\---  
  
Frank yelled for Hazel to stop, knowing what was about to happen, but he wasn’t fast enough. Both her and Valdez’ eyes went blank, and they stopped moving.  
  
“Great,” Frank muttered, dragging his hand through his hair. Hazel wanted to search Leo’s memories, _that_ definitely wouldn’t end badly. There were things he’d rather her not see.  
But, at the same time, Frank didn’t want to believe Leo had started a war, that he’d be willing to sacrifice children and his friends. Hazel might be the only one now who could find the answers and stop the war. But, it might cost them their relationship in the process.  
  
They were both still, for a long time. Before they woke up, another found him. Jason landed through the trees, looking like he had seen better days. He was also soaking wet.  
  
“We need to talk- is that Leo?” Jason started, before glancing at Hazel and Leo. Frank nodded jerkily.  
  
“She’s, uh, checking his memories.” Frank explained, Jason sent him a pitying look. “…It’s not ideal.”  
  
“I went to their ship, and found Nico and Percy.” Jason said with a sigh. “Percy, and Leo, who are _apparently_ Greek demigods, as was Luke. Kind of kicking myself right now.”  
  
“Percy?” Frank perked up. “He’s a demigod? So, Nico lied.”  
  
“Yup,” Jason rolled his eyes. “He wasn’t sure what we’d do, supposedly. Look, I talked to their people. I don’t think they planned any of this. Percy said both he and Leo had been-“  
  
“Possessed,” Frank finished for him. “Yeah, Valdez said as much. After Hazel sent a sword through his stomach.”  
  
Jason looked concerned, “is he okay?”  
  
“He, uh, died.” That was a few hours of horror Frank really didn’t want to relive. Hazel kept saying he’d come back, but Frank held onto his body long after he began to turn cold.  
“But, he…came back.”  
  
Jason nodded silently, but a frown didn’t leave his face. “So, what do we do?”  
  
“That depends on what Hazel finds,” Frank sighed. “Ultimately, I’m guessing we take him back to Reyna.”  
  
Hazel and Leo awoke with a start, jerking back from one another. It looked like their eyes were wet with unshed tears. They simply stared at one another for a minute, before noticing Frank and Jason.  
  
“Jason,” Leo said, sounding nearly happy. Jason crouched down next to him and hugged him gently.  
  
“He’s…telling the truth,” Hazel said softly, looking shaken. “He was possessed.”  
  
Leo eyed her wearily, a look Frank knew well by now- the trepidation, a caged animal, a feral cat. He was afraid. “I’m sorry,” Hazel whispered, and Leo looked away. Some part of Frank was envious of Hazel , that she had gotten to see into Leo’s mind. The thought felt traitorous though, and he pushed it down.  
  
“I believe him,” Jason said. “This explains a lot, how you two vanished after the break out. And, the fire thing.”  
  
“Son of Hephaestus,” Valdez said with a small smile that didn’t meet his eyes. The comment didn’t mean much to them, no one at their camp had fire powers, not inherently.  
  
“We need to take you back,” Jason said softly. “But, we’ll explain everything to Reyna.”  
  
“Will it stop them?” Valdez sighed, rubbing at his forehead. “We can’t go to war. I made a promise.”  
  
“What promise?” Frank cut in, and Valdez seemed nearly surprised to hear him speak.  
  
“That,” he started slowly, “I would die a million times over to protect them. Which I guess has become plausible if I can’t stay dead…”  
  
“That won’t happen, Leo, I’m a Praetor. There will be people who oppose, but once Reyna makes final say, everyone will fall in line.” Jason helped Valdez stand up, supporting his side. Hazel stood back, looking like she wasn’t sure what to do. Frank felt the same.  
  
“I have no idea what that is, but, thanks I think.” Valdez paused, before looking around, suddenly looking worried. “Where is Festus?”  
  
“Festus?”  
  
“My dragon, where is his body?” Valdez tried to push away from Jason, but looked pale and unsteady and Jason didn’t let him go far. “And, where the fuck did the _actual_ dragon go?”  
  
“That, uh, was me.” Frank tried to push down the feelings of guilt. Valdez stared at him, a look he’d not seen in over a year. It wasn’t a good look. It was a quiet appraisal, like Frank wasn’t a person to him any longer, but something to be studied. “I can shapeshift, into…animals, mostly.”  
  
“…You killed my best friend.” Valdez said coldly, and it cut sharp.  
  
“Your friends will find the remains, Leo, I’m sorry but we need to go.” Jason sighed, and wrapped his arm tighter around Valdez’ waist, before beginning to levitate off the ground. Valdez looked startled, but didn’t push away, looking at the ground below his feet getting further away.  
  
“Frank,” Hazel said, pulling him from his thoughts. She still looked uneasy, tired even. “We need to go too.”  
  
“Yeah, right, of course. Do you need help?” Frank gestured to Arion, but Hazel shook her head. “Do…you need anything else?” Frank asked cautiously.  
  
“No, I just-“ Hazel sighed. “It was a lot. More than I was expecting. I just wanted to make sure…but it was like everything flashed by so fast. I…understand him better…and vice versa. I couldn’t control everything… it was just a lot.”  
  
“I’m sorry,” Frank whispered, and walked the few feet over to embrace her. She leaned into it, thankfully.  
  
-  
  
When Frank got back to camp, Hazel and Arion, and Jason and Valdez were already there. Valdez stared in some surprise as Frank moved out of his shift from bear to human, but said nothing. Then again, his hands were chained behind his back and he still seemed to be nursing his wound.  
  
Reyna and a few other centurions, including Octavian, stood in front of the group, eying Valdez with trepidation.  
  
“Well, now that you’re here…Would you like to explain?” Reyna asked, or rather, ordered softly.  
  
“This is Leo Valdez, a member of Camp Half Blood, and one of our former cellmates.” Jason said, back straight, amusement gone from his shoulders. “He came to us to explain what had happened, but-“  
  
“Was rightfully stabbed through?” Octavian asked, with some glee, only to have Valdez roll his eyes so hard they nearly stayed in the back of his head. Frank tried not to smirk, the fact of Valdez instinctively disliking Octavian was one of the many things that made Frank like him, but really wish he didn’t.  
  
“And what had happened?” Reyna raised an eyebrow. “Because from where I stand, we offered an alliance, a peace meeting, and were fired upon. People died.”  
  
“He lost control of the ship,” Jason cut in quickly. “They were forced to fire upon us, to start a war, to distract us.”  
  
“A likely story, from the guilty,” Octavian snorted.  
  
“You know what’s an even more likely story, towhead?” Valdez cut in, with fake enthusiasm in his eyes, and Frank was afraid he’d end up stabbed again. “A smaller military force, firing on a military with an obvious advantage—then immediately leaving, without a fight, and without having destroyed the majority of your weapons. No, that sounds completely and totally reasonable!”  
  
Octavian didn’t say anything, but his face turned red with anger. But, not denying it was probably a good thing.  
  
“…Be that as it may,” Reyna sighed. “We have no proof you’re telling the truth. For all we know, this is simply part of the plan, to lower our defenses.”  
  
“No offense, lady, but I’m one of the strongest demigods in Camp Half Blood. Do you think I would come back here, alone, and offer myself up on a platter?” Valdez was definitely going to get stabbed again.  
  
“Your word only,” Reyna shot back, looking very nearly amused, which was worrisome.  Valdez brought his arms to the front of his body, showing the handcuffs he had been wearing simply melting off.  
  
“I’m a son of Hephaestus, and the only one in over 500 years to control fire.”  
  
Reyna paused, before shrugging a shoulder. “I appreciate the show, but next to a child of Jupiter and Pluto, you’re far from threatening. Not to mention, your powers are classically a harbinger of doom, rather than one of peace.“  
  
“Hey, don’t shoot the harbinger.”  
  
“I saw into his mind,” Hazel cut in. “He’s telling the truth. There is something out there worse, something controlling strings to try and send us to war, to distract us. It’s the reason the dead aren’t staying dead.”  
  
The centurions exchanged whispers, and Reyna looked at her appraisingly. “You’re defending him?”  
  
“I am,” Hazel nodded. “I grew up in a world at war, we shouldn’t needlessly jump into another.”  
  
“Alright,” Reyna said, as simply as that. “We will require another meeting. This must be discussed, if outside forces are pitting us against one another. Whom among you do you trust most?” Reyna directed the question to Valdez.  
  
“Piper McLean, Annabeth Chase, Percy Jackson, Calypso, Thalia Grace, and Nico di Angelo on a good day.” Valdez said back easily, without stopping to think about it.  
  
Jason paused, and looked at Valdez with an odd expression. “Did you say Thalia Grace?”  
  
“Did you say Annabeth Chase?” Reyna raised an eyebrow curiously. Valdez looked to both and nodded, suspicion clear. “I see. I’ve met her.”  
  
“I think you might know my sister,” Jason muttered, but all attention was on him instantly. “It’s a long story, alright? Can we do this later?”  
  
“Take the prisoner to the healing tent, so he can meet those who died.” Reyna wave them off. “Then, we’ll try again.”  
\---  
  
They tried again, and it went far more successfully this time around. Frank avoided Valdez for the most part, and when he went back with the Greeks, Frank tried not to look back.  
  
A few months later, the Greeks were back, with a ship and a prophecy.  
  
Life on the Argo was…awkward to say the least.  
  
One wing of the ship was for the Romans, and one for the Greeks, but it seemed like Jason made his way back and forth between the two. They were unclear if Jason was staying with Percy, Nico, Valdez, or Piper. It wasn’t something they wanted to talk to him about.  
  
Frank rarely saw Valdez, in all actuality, and he was suspicious that it had been arranged that way on purpose. If it had been, he didn’t know if it was a good thing or a bad thing. There were so many things he wanted to talk about, but the few instances they did encounter one another, it was usually met with long silent stares, before shuffling past.  
 It was even worse if Hazel was with him at the time, because there was a new level of awkwardness, in which Valdez and Hazel seemed to tread lightly on thin water around one another too, for entirely different reasons. They had both seen into one anothers mind, and it hadn’t been and invited intrusion on Hazel’s part, but she hadn’t intended to share her past with him either.  
Not even addressing the fact that Leo Valdez was a descendant of her ex-boyfriend.  
  
One evening, before they had reached Greece, Frank and Hazel were making their way across the ship, but had to pass the engine room, which was usually closed, because that was Leo Territory. But, that day it was open, and in passing, the glanced in to see Leo talking to another girl on a screen, looking happy and completely relaxed. She cut off talking when she noticed them in the door way, and Valdez tensed up and turned the screen off.  
  
“Need something?” Valdez asked, arms crossed, night and day from moments before.  
“Is she your girlfriend?” Hazel asked, curiously. This conversation felt eerily familiar to Frank for some reason.  
  
“And you’d care why?” Valdez raised an eyebrow. “It’s none of your business who I do or don’t fuck, so if you’re don’t need anything, then leave”  
  
“Leo,” Hazel said, with a warning tone that had Frank standing a bit straighter. Valdez bit his lip, and looked away.  
  
“Nyssa, her name is Nyssa. She’s my sister.” Hazel smiled at the answer.  
  
“Are you dating anyone else?” Valdez snorted.  
  
“When? Between building the last ships? Building this one in half the time, 90% of the time by myself? Yeah, no. I barely have time to sleep.”  
  
“That’s not good, you should-“ a blast rocked the side of the ship, sending them all stumbling, before racing to action.  
  
It went on like that, over the next few weeks. They spoke slightly more, had more run ins. Valdez got a fireproof pouch for Frank’s driftwood, looking sheepish before mumbling excuses and running off to talk to Jason.  
Then, Percy and Annabeth fell to Tartarus, and Valdez and Nico both more or less shut down. Nico knew what lay below, and they both blamed themselves for not saving their friends. Even when Percy and Annabeth returned, it hadn’t helped much.  
 Frank suspected Valdez spoke to Hazel more often than he did to him. Maybe it was for the best.  
  
But then Leo Valdez was asking for Hazel’s help to die.  
  
“The prophecy is clear. It’s me or Jason.” Valdez explained, but blood was rushing in Frank’s head, and his voice sounded muted and far away. “I might have a way to beat the odds, and not die…forever, but I need your mist to do it. No one else will help me, not after last time.”  
  
“Why do you do this?” Frank gasped out finally, like he was just getting air for the first time in a long time. “Why do you jump at the first chance to get yourself killed? Why can’t you think about the people around you? Who have to see you hurt, to see you bleeding, to see you not moving?”  
  
Valdez looked at him, really looked at him. “I’m sorry, Frank. But, you understand, don’t you? I can’t…I can’t let people suffer when I have the chance to stop it. I have a plan. _Please_ , trust me.”  
  
Frank couldn’t say anything; it was hard enough to talk right now.  
  
Hazel reached over, and hugged Valdez tightly. “I will help you, just…don’t die? Please?”  
  
Valdez nodded into the embrace, his shoulders were shaking, and Frank realized he wasn’t the only one afraid. Hazel leaned back, a few silent tears dripping down her cheeks as she finally leaned in to kiss Valdez on the forehead.  
“You have so many people that love you, so, come back.”  
  
“I will,” Valdez’ voice cracked. “I will.”  
  
Frank reached over, and finally, _finally_ , crushed Valdez’ into an embrace. It hurt, hurt them both probably, but neither wanted to speak.  
“Leo,” he whispered, and heard his name in return.  
  
A few hours later, Frank watched him die, again. Valdez had been right back then, standing before Reyna, Leo Valdez was likely one of the most powerful demigods in either camp in terms of raw destructive power. It felt like Frank was looking at a miniature sun, until it faded to nothing.  
  
Hazel fell to the ground, covering her mouth in a choked sob. Leo had died, and she knew, she felt it. Frank hadn’t cried in a long time, not since his mother died, not until today.  
  
Days later, Hazel jerked up out of bed, and looked around, holding her hand to her heart. That day, Frank cried for an entirely different reason.  
  
-  
  
Leo had been thrown up nearly into outer-fucking-space, before drifting back down on Festus’ back. He wasn’t sure how long he had been dead, or how far he had been blasted, but Camp Half Blood wasn’t in sight.  
  
Thankfully, he had an astrolabe.  
  
Turned out, he was very nearly half way across the Atlantic Ocean- thank you, Gulf Stream.  It took another day to get Festus to fly back to Long Island. When Leo landed, in a crowd of people who had gathered below, he immediately passed out. The whole dying and coming back to life thing always took a lot out of him for some reason.  
  
Leo woke up in a hospital bed, and woke up to see Frank asleep next to him in a chair. For a moment he convinced himself they were back in prison, but then Leo saw Hazel.  
  
Hazel then shook Frank’s shoulder, and the big guy jerked awake, and just stared at Leo.  
Then Leo was getting kissed, and it was all well and good, but literally every inch of him hurt, so he mumbled against the mouth until Frank pulled back all big eyed.  
  
“You’re alive- and, you…I…”  
  
“I’m in severe pain, and your girlfriend is two feet away.” Leo said meekly, pushing down a sick feeling. It was the same feeling he had to push down every time he saw Frank on the Argo. They’d see each other in passing, stop, stare, and then carry on with their business. They’d maybe start to say something, then think better of it.  
  
“Girlfriend is happy you’re alive, girlfriend doesn’t currently care.” Hazel smiled, eyes a bit watery. “I’m glad you’re alright Leo.” Frank nodded about five times in about 2 seconds.  
  
“We’ll get you some elixir, alright?” Hazel asked, grabbing Leo’s hand. Leo didn’t know how he felt about Hazel, because he knew if he had met her apart from Frank, he’d have fallen head over heels. She was smart, gorgeous, a bit dark, and she had seen more of Leo’s life than anyone else had. He’d seen hers too. They had more in common than he wanted to admit, and while she often tried to extend a hand to him on the Argo, it was hard for him to accept it- even ignoring the connection to Frank.  
“And, when you’re feeling better, we’ll have a long talk. It’s time, I think. I don’t think anyone wants there to be any unsaid words.”  
  
Hazel walked out of the room after giving a quick reassuring squeeze to Leo’s hands.  
  
“That’s terrifying,” Leo tried to laugh, but it hurt. “I guess it was bound to happen.”  
  
“I love you,” Frank cut in, and Leo froze solid, thinking he misheard him. “I’m sorry I never said anything before. I wanted to after we met again, but it felt wrong. But I can’t watch you get hurt again, I can’t watch you put yourself on the line again, without you knowing that.”  
  
“Frank,” Leo started weakly. “…it doesn’t change anything. Nothing…can happen. It’s the same as it ever was, now or in prison”  
  
“I don’t care,” Frank shook his head. “I just need you to know. Regardless of everything, I need you to know that.”  
  
Leo shook his head, and Frank left not long after that with Hazel. He was just emotional, that was all. Frank didn’t know what he was saying, what it all meant, what the actual ramifications were. It wasn’t fair, to any of them, especially not him or Hazel.  
Frank was just…  
Leo grabbed a pillow to yell into.  
  
-  
  
Leo was back on his feet a few days later, moving around his bunker with Piper and Calypso.  
  
“No building anything,” Piper said. “No death contraptions, just soup.” Calypso said.  
  
It was nice to have friends.  
Jason had to go off and act like an adult, talking to the Gods about what was to follow after the fall of the earth mother, but had spent a good deal of the morning helping Leo out.  
  
Hazel and Frank were going to come by later, which was…probably not going to be fun.  
  
“It won’t be too long, next week we’ll start talking about setting up shop.” Calypso nodded to Leo, who grinned in exchange. “We can have an outpost in New Rome, if you want.”  
  
Leo’s grin faltered. Evil island priestesses always knew everything. “...Yeah, maybe, we’ll see.”  
Then came a knock on the door. Calypso let it swing open, by way of magic, and Frank and Hazel walked in.  
  
“Are we interrupting?” Hazel asked after a moment.  
  
“No, we were just about to leave. Just had to make sure Leo wasn’t breaking any of Will’s orders.” Piper smiled easily at Hazel, but there was some trepidation in her tone. They were friends, but Piper was friends with Leo first and foremost.  
  
“Make blueprints,” Calypso said. “But, no building. Or destructing. Just soup.”  
  
“I promise,” Leo waved her off. “Go on. I’ll be fine. My DNA will be 90% chicken noodle by the next time we talk.”  
  
After they left, Hazel gestured at the door. “What was that about Blueprints?”  
  
“Ah, yeah, Sunshine and I…Uh, Calypso and I are going to open up a shop and garage type thing.” Leo scratched the back of his head. “That’s the plan, anyway.”  
  
“Are you dating?” Leo laughed, and shook his head.  
  
“Maybe in another life, but not this one.”  
  
“Anyone else?” Hazel cocked her head to the side, and Leo shrugged a shoulder.  
  
“Same answer as before. I haven’t had the time. Not that there haven’t been options, Narcissus was into me right, Hazel?”  
  
Hazel chuckled at the memory, and Frank frowned. Then, Hazel nodded at the fairly beaten down couches Leo had brought into the Bunker, one which had a pile of blankets on from when he had been working on the Argo all those months ago. Leo quickly grabbed them off, and shook off any spiders and dust, before gesturing for them to sit down.  
  
“Still better than some of the places I’ve lived,” Leo smiled awkwardly.  
  
“It’s fine, look, to get to the point. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking recently, and some reading, and talking to others.” Hazel started, and Frank looked tense. “I’ve not talked to Frank about this either, so we’ll just have to see. We need to begin with full disclosure. Frank cheated on me, with you, and has feeling for you in addition to feelings for me. Correct?”  
  
Frank took a moment before nodding stiffly.  
  
“Does it change anything?” Leo sighed, feeling like a parrot. “You’re not going to break up with him, and I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t want you to either.”  
  
“That isn’t what I’m proposing,” Hazel had a shadow of a smile on her face. “I’m proposing, essentially, polyamory.”  
  
Leo narrowed his eyes, before leaning forward.  
  
“Polyamory means multiple loves, as in, dating or having a romantic relationship with more than one person.” Hazel explained, as Frank looked at her curiously.  
  
“Are…you saying I could…date both of you?”  
  
“Seems complicated, and seems like Frank gets to have his cake and eat it too.” Leo leaned back, frowning. “On pure principle, I don’t like the idea of him completely happy.”  
  
“It doesn’t have to be complicated.” Hazel said, ignoring the other comment. “We need to be open and up front about our feelings, honest with one another, respect one another. I’m not saying it would be easy, but I love Frank, and I think you do too.”  
  
Leo didn’t respond, just tapped his fingers on his knee, no morse code, no nothing. “How would this work? You’re both across the country.”  
  
“If he, you-” Hazel looked at Frank, “wanted to…maybe a few weeks there, a few weeks here.”  
  
Frank sighed, running a hand through short cropped hair. “I’m Praetor now. I don’t know how long I could leave.”  
  
“Leo could come to New Rome?” Hazel asked, looking to Leo. “We’re friends aren’t we? I know it’s awkward to talk about now, but I don’t want to never see you again.”  
  
Leo smiled, or tried to. “…I can try, maybe once or if I get a satellite shop up. I’ve been talking with Annabeth too about some things, but, uh, that’s more on the QT. Like, don’t tell her I told you…but, we’re investigating other passages. Like, labyrinth passages.”  
  
“That…seems dangerous.” Frank frowned. “Granted, so is everything you do.”  
  
“It’s all mathematics,” Leo waved his hand at him. “Daedalus doesn’t have anything on Annabeth and yours truly.”  
  
“So?” Hazel smiled. “Can we work something out, so we can all be happy? Rather than forlorn and miserable, namely you two in particular. You made everyone on the Argo uncomfortable, you know.”  
  
Leo sighed, scratching at the side of his head. “So, what are the details here? Dating? Staying over? Is sex on the table? Not to mention, Frank and I barely know each other outside of prison, what happens when this all blows up in our faces?”  
  
“Then, I guess if you blow up, we bring you back again.” Hazel smiled softly, and Leo jerked back silently, not knowing how to respond to that. “It’s better, than the alternative. I told you, people love you, but you have a hard time accepting it. You don’t think you’re worth as much as anyone else, which is why you’re so quick to volunteer yourself for the missions you think someone isn’t coming back from. But, it doesn’t have to be that way.”  
  
Leo watched her carefully, tapping a bit slower.  
  
“Will this hurt you?” Leo asked after a moment. “You’re the OG, you’re the one who got lied to, and is now saying you want to work something out. Is this really what _you_ want, Hazel?”  
  
“More or less,” Hazel smiled. “I wouldn’t have suggested it if it hurt me. I’m not saying it won’t be complicated, I’m not saying jealousy won’t happen, but we’re adults. I’m not about to sabotage myself. If something doesn’t work, we’ll be upfront about it.”  
  
“And, your brother would probably kill me, huh?” Leo snorted, then he froze. “Oh gods, is your dad going to come after us?” Frank’s eyes widened at that, and he sat up much straighter.  
  
“Not if you don’t do anything too stupid.” At their terrified expressions, Hazel laughed. “Don’t worry. This is all very Roman, or Greek, I suppose. I don’t think they’d mind. Our love lives are a million times less complex than the Gods.”  
  
“Husband, wife, and a boy toy on the side, huh?” Leo snickered, but Frank shot him a look.  
  
“Don’t, Valdez.” Leo rolled his eyes.  
  
“Jeez, touchy, alright. _Boyfriend_ , _girlfriend_ , and a boy toy on the side, is that better?“ Leo jeered, unable to stop himself. They really hadn’t had a one on one conversation in a long time. Probably for good reason. Why did Frank think he loved him again?  
  
“Valdez-“  
  
“Both of you!” Hazel held up a hand, looking exasperated. “Leo, try not to be so self-deprecating, you’re an equal party, not a dirty secret. Frank, stop ordering Leo around and expect him to respond positively.”  
  
Frank and Leo exchanged a look before shrugging.  
  
“See,” Hazel waved between them, “look at how much better this is. It’ll be a slow start, but this can work.”  
  
“Okay, okay. I agree to this, and whatever. I still think this is going to end up…just horribly, like most things in my life.” Leo smiled tiredly at Hazel. “But, thanks, for…you know, trying to make us less stupid. No matter how futile it is with us.”  
  
“Thank you, Hazel.” Frank smiled, in a way he really only did with her. “Full honesty and invisibility. No more secrets or lies. Never again.”  
  
Hazel seemed to preen slightly under the compliments and attention, but stood up and brushed off her skirt. “Well, I think I should get going. Leo, you look tired, you should really lie down.”  
  
Frank looked a bit confused, starting to stand, but Hazel pushed him back down. “I think you boys need some time together, and Frank makes pretty good soup. I’ll go, you stay, we can talk tomorrow.”  
  
And then Hazel left, and left two very confused young men in her wake.  
  
“So, uh, is…there a kitchen in this place?” Frank asked after a moment, glancing around the bunker.  
  
That night, Leo sat up in what he called a bed, sketching out ideas to clear his mind; as tired as he was, which was very, it was hard to sleep. But, he was happy, or came close to it anyway.  
Frank was sleeping next to him, for the first time in forever, looking less guarded than he ever had in prison, resting his head on Leo’s shoulder. It couldn’t have been comfortable, Leo was mostly fish bone afterall, but Frank's head had slipped down and he stayed peacefully asleep.  
  
Leo was still afraid, somewhere, deep down in his gut, the fears he had in prison hadn’t left. At some point, Frank was going to leave him for Hazel, permanently. It wasn't going to work forever, come ten years from now, it would just be awkward glances and memories he wished he could forget.   
  
But for now, like this, Leo could tell himself that he was happy.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \--  
> I can say right now, for the epilogue-
> 
> time skip, a lot more Hazel, and possibly some sexy times.  
> Do things work out in the end? will leo's prediction come true? who knows! besides me! I know!
> 
> I really do hope people like this chapter, since it is the first major deviation away from the prison setting
> 
> i'll probably come back and edit more..when..it..isn't 3am.  
> happy canada day?


End file.
